THE 
FLORIST’S JOURNAL. 
March 1, 1S42. 
THE ONCIDIUM PAPILIO—THE BUTTERFLY PLANT, 
BY MR. P. N. DON. 
This is a very large genus, and many varieties are very beautiful ; 
but that here figured is one of the most singular and beautiful 
of the genus, the flower in ever} r part resembling a butterfly, on 
long slender flower-stems, and, when the flower is moved by the 
air, has the appearance of the insect on the wing. The sepals and 
petals are green, striped with reddish brown ; the lip is pale yellow 
in the middle, with a broad margin of reddish brown ; the upper 
portion is of a green-white, spotted with reddish brown; the tubercle 
on the lip has the appearance of a lamb’s head beautifully spotted 
with brown ; the apex of the lip is broad, obtuse, and emarginate, 
and the middle portion is somewhat narrow ; the base is broader 
than the middle portion, and winged. The column is short, of a 
brownish green, and resembling the mouth of an insect, the cap 
forming the head portion, fringed underneath with two peduncu¬ 
lated glands, which are black, and Very much resemble the 
palpse of an insect; the two lateral sepals are somewhat ovate- 
pointed, green, striped with reddish brown ; the upper sepal is 
linear-pointed, of a reddish brown, with a green keel on the outer 
side ; the three upper petals are linear-pointed, of a reddish 
brown, with a greenish ridge along the whole length of the petals ; 
underneath the cap are to be seen the pollen masses, which are of 
a yellowish colour ; these are the stamens, and underneath them is 
the style : a thin membrane divides the anthers from the style. 
When the pollen is ready to burst, the anthers have the power of 
throwing themselves forward ; when forcibly touched, they are 
VOL. III. no. m. II 
