17 
EPIDENDRUM. nutans. 
Nodding Epidendrum. 
GYNANDRIA MONANDRIA. 
EPIDENDRUM. Cal. 0. Cor. Pet. 5, oblonga, patentia. La- 
bellum basi ecorne, tubulatum, columnam amplectens, /amina erecta, 
patula. Columna germini teretiusculo infero imposita, gibba, apice su- 
pra foveam adfigens Antheram 2-4-locularem, singulo loculo includen- 
tem Corpuscula pollinis 1-4, pedicello communi anticé inserto, affixa. 
Stig. ante foveam Anthere, concavum. Caps. oblonga, 3-gona, 1-locu- 
laris, 3-valvis. Sem. numerosa, minutissima, subrotunda; Arillo scobi- 
formi induta. Swartz. Il. ind. occid. 3.1485. Herbe perennes, pa- 
rasitice. 
E. nutans, caule simplici, foliis ovato-lanceolatis amplexicaulibus, flori- 
bus subspicatis nutantibus, lamina labelli triloba, lobo intermedio tri- 
dentato. Swartz Nov. Act. ups. 6. 68. prod. 121. flor. ind. occid. 3. 
1499. Willd. sp. pl. 4.117. Hort. Kew. ed.2. 5. 219. 
Radices crass, jiliformes, longa, albide. Caulis (nunc plures aggregati ) 
1-2 pedalis, crassus, simplex, foliosus, subteres, suberectus, s. arboubik hori- 
zontalt situ adnascens. Folia sessilia, vaginantia, amplexicaulia, alterna, 
obliqué patula, ovato-lanceolata, acuta, plana, subtis levissimé carinata, inte- 
gra, lineata, glabra, subcoriacea. Vaginee foliorum caulem arcté cingentes, 
teretes, lineata, glabre, rubicunde. Pedune. terminalis, solitarius, longi- 
tudine feré foliorum (spithameus), compressiusculus, vaginis aliquot remotis 
lanceolatis albido-purpurascentibus munitus, glaber. Flores terminales, sub- 
spicatt, approximat?, 20-30, sessiles, majusculi, lutei, spicam nutantem re- 
erentes. Bractex lanceolato-lineares, carinata, longit. sepé germinis, pal- 
lide. Pet. 5, isometra, patula : 3 exter. ovato-lanceolata, acuta, lateralia, 
subfalcata, planiuscula, integra, elevato-striata, extiis luteo-rufescentia: 2 
inter. Jineart-acuminata. Labellum columne bast adnatum, amplectens. La~ 
mina horizontaliter deflexa, 3-loba; lobis lateralibus ovatis, integris, con- 
pexis, intermedio 3-dentato: dentibus lateralibus cornuum instar erectis, media 
defleco. Calli 2 prope faucem, undé ad apicem lobi intermedit sulci 3 elevati. 
Columna labello brevior, erecta, teres, apice dilatata, marginibus biloba. 
Anth. 4 loc. in foved apicis columne, corpuscula solitaria oblonga, peilicel- 
_ bata tegens. Caps. oblonga, 6-carinata, magna, Swartz. 
Native of the mountains of the western side of the Island 
of Jamaica, where it grows (as the generic name implies) 
on trees, striking root in the fissures of their bark. First 
brought to England by Admiral Bligh, in 1793. 
The cultivation of tropical parasitic vegetables was long — 
regarded as hopeless with us; it appeared a vain attempt to 
find substitutes for the various trees each species might 
affect, within the limits of the hot-house. But experience 
FA 
