ODONTOGLOSSUM PENDULUM.
P E N D E N T - F L O W E R E D O D O N T O G L O S S U M.
O. (TRYMENIUM) pseudobulbis subrotundis compressis lievibus dipbyllis, foliis oblongo-ligulatis
obtusis raeemo pendulo multifloro paulo brevioribus, sepalis oblong-is obtusis pctalisque conforrnibus
subasqualibus, labello unguiculato reniformi basi excavato marginibus callosis,
clinandrii alis lateralibus subtruncatis dorsalique rotundato denticulatis.
ODONTOGLOSSCH CITBOSMCM, Lindl. Hot. Beg. 1842, Misc. 68; 1813, t. 3; Fol. Orch. n. 59; Warner's Select. Orchidaceous Plants,
t. 28; Lenutire, Jard. Ft. t. 90.
CUITLAUZINA PENDULA, La Llave et Lexana, Orch. Max. 2; Beichenbach, fil, Bonplandia, iii. 15, 16.
Habitat in MEXICO, Tirana, Karwinski, Barker.
DESCRIPTION.
FSEUDOBULBS clustered together, 2 to -1 inches lout/, compressed, ovate or almost round, smooth and glossy, Z-leaved.
LEAVES 6 inches to a foot long, leathery, oblong-ligulate, obtuse, rather shorter than the raceme. RACEME issuing
at an early stage from the young growth, pendulous, many-flowered, rarely branched, longer than the leaves. SEPALS
and PETALS similar in form, pure white, or in some varieties of a faint blush or rose-colour, frequently sprinkled
with minute red dots, oblong, obtuse, about an inch long. LIP unguiculale, kidney-shaped, channelled (with the solid
edges turned up) along its base, on which there is a patch of yellow, with a few bright dots in the position where a
crest Chere entirely wanting•) is usually placed; the colour of the disk of the lip varies in different specimens, being
sometimes entirely white and sometimes lipped with faint rose-colour or deep-crimson. COLUMN with upper and
tower wings fall of which are toothed), that on the back being rounded and the others truncated.
Early in the present century, two Spaniards—La Llave and Lexarza by name—settled at the Mexican town of
Valladolid, in the fertile province of Mechoacan. They were both attached to botany, but the younger of the two,
Lcxarza, was so attracted by the beauty of the numerous Orchids of the district that to these he devoted himself with an
ardour that would have done honour even to the Lindlevs and Reichenbachs of our own day. As the result of his
labours a little work —' Orchidianum Opusculum' lie modestly styled it—presently made its appearance, wherein about
fifty species, all at that time new to science, were described with remarkable accuracy and skill. Among the number
there was a plant,—Cuitlauzina pendula he called it,—said to be of surpassing loveliness and to form an undoubtedly
new genus the distinctive characters of which were minutely given. As time went on and the rage for Orchids developed
itself in Europe, a keen desire was naturally felt by cultivators to add so line a plant to their lists; but although many
collectors visited Valladolid and laid hands upon nearly all the other desirable Orchids described by Lcxarza, still nothing
was heard of the Cuitlausina, and on the cover of the latest number of l)r. Lindley's ' Folia Orchidacea' its name may be
found in the list of genera " unknown to the author." About the same time I myself addressed a letter to the ' Gardeners'
Chronicle' urging some adventurous traveller to take ship for New Spain, mainly with the object of instituting another
searcli for the tantalizing plant that had hitherto eluded our grasp. Yet all this while Cuitlauzina pendula was
amongst us, and indeed had been an established favourite for upwards of twenty years! But if so, it may well be
asked, how came it to pass that it was never recognized ? Eor a full reply to this very natural inquiry I must refer
the reader to a most ingenious article in ' Bonplandia' (Jalirg. iii. No. 15, 1G), by the younger Reichenbach, to whom