817 
AERANTHES grandiflora. 
Large-flowered Aeranthes. 
—a 
GYNANDRIA MONANDRIA. 
Nat. ord. ORCHIDEX.—Sect. IV. Epidendree. 
AERANTHES. Labellum calcaratum, membranaceum, integrum, cum 
processu unguiformi columne cui lacinie antice adnascuntur articulatum. 
Perianthium ringens. Pollinia 2, cava, hine perforata, filo nullo! glan- 
dul duplice. Herbzx parasitice, perennes, radicibus filiformibus. Folia 
disticha. Flores maximi, solitarii, pallidi. Sepala cornuta, equalia. 
A. grandiflora, foliis apice bilobis valde inzequalibus scapo radicali yaginato 
debili brevioribus, calcare emarginato. 
Herba parasitica, non bulbosa. Radices jfibrose, glabra. Folia disti- 
cha, ligulata, undulata, apice valde inequaliter biloba, glaucescentia. Sca- 
pus radicalis, debilis, foliis longior, vaginis aridis, duris, lineatis vestitus, 
serie continuatd florifer. Flos solitarius, magnus, inodorus. Perianthium 
ringens, pallide flavum. Sepala equalia, carnosa, lucida, glaberrima, semi- 
diaphana, ad basin pallide viridia, versus apicem flava, patentia, canalicu- 
lata, acuminata, quast cornuta; exteriora ovato-lanceolata, lateralibus ad 
basin connatis antice usque ad articulum labelli productis, rotundatis, cum 
ungue columne subtus connatis; interiora. breviora, cordata, abrupte acumi- 
nata, marginibus posticis conniventibus, anticis cum columnd connatis. La- 
bellum album, liberum, lanceolatum, integerrimum, ad basin subrepandum, 
cum calcare et pede columne articulatum ; calcar e processu unguiformi co- 
lumne productum, breve, incurvum, ore abrupté constricto, basi inflato, de- 
presso, emarginato, viridi, intus piloso. Columna brevis, teres, tne pedem 
membranaceum, alatum, cum laciniis interioribus ad marginem, anticis sub- 
tus connatum, demum calcaratum producta, antice utrinque alata, alis semi- 
ovatis, conniventibus, supra gynizum horizontaliter porrectis. Gynizus sub- 
rotundus, excavatus, infundibularis. Anthera terminalis, opercularis, bilo- 
cularis, decidua. Pollinia2, rotunda, cava, hinc perforata, filo nullo, glan- 
dulis duabus. 
‘Roots of this singular plant were sent, in a living state, 
from St. Mary’s, Madagascar, by the late Mr. Forbes, in 
1823, to the Horticultural Society; in whose garden our’ 
drawing was taken in June last. It is there successfully 
cultivated in decomposed woody soil, in the same manner 
as other plants of the same family. 
So little has hitherto been done in describing the Orchi- 
deous plants of tropical countries, that new forms are con- 
tinually presenting themselves, and requiring the establish-: 
ment of new genera for their reception. The distinctions 
upon which these are to be founded, however. minute 
they may occasionally appear, are singularly permanent 
and decisive. Thus the genus now proposed, which, in 
many respects, is allied to Aerides, of which A. odoratum 
must be considered the type, has a decidedly different 
VOL. X. ag 
