ODONTOGLOSSUM HASTILABIUM, UNDIEY.
H A L B E R T - L I P P E D O D O N T O G L O S S U M.
O. (ISANTHIUM, Lindl.) pseudobulbis ovatis compressis 1-2-pliyllis, F'oliis oblongis coriaceis,
paniculse exaltata; ramis spicatis, bracteis cymbiformibus acuminatis ovario asqualibus,
sepalis petalisque lineari-lanceolatis acuminatis midulatis, labello apice subrotundo-ovato
acuto basi auriculis acutis lanceolatis porrcctis aucto, lamellis 5 elevatis, columnse alis
obsolete undulatis, margine versus basin membranaceo dilatato.
ODONTOGLOSSUM IIASTI LABIUM, Lindley, Orchid. Linden, n. S-L; Hooker, Bot. Mag. (. -1272; Pcscatorea, t. 11.
Habitat in Nov. GRANADA: Tesqua, in the province of Pamplona, at the elevation of 2500 feet, April, Linden; on the road from
Santa Martha to the Sierra Nevada, Purdie; Ocirna, January, 5-6000 feet, Schlim, Wegener, Blunt.
DESCRIPTION.
PSEUDOBULBS compressed, ovate, 3 to 0 inches long, bearing 1 or 2 oblong, leathery LEAVES, not more than a third the
length of the scape. BRACTS boat-shaped, acuminate, equal in length to the ovary. SCAPE very robust, from 2 to F>
feet high, panicled, bearing from 20 to 100 flowers. SEPALS and PETALS LI to 2 inches long, linear-lanceolate,
acuminate, slightly waved at the margin, of a pale-green, barred with numerous lines of dark-red or purple. LIP
lialbert-shaped, purple at the base, but white in its upper portion, which is of a roundish-ovate form, pointed at the
extremity; its crest consists of 2 outer and 2 interior plates, the taller stretching forward beyond the former,
with a linear-oval callosity in the centre. Counts expanding at its base on either side into an inflexed membrane.
As this stately Odontoglossum is met with at a mucli lower elevation than any of its congeners, it is constitutionally
less impatient of heat, and has therefore hcen able to accommodate itself to artificial conditions under which others of
ita race in former years have pined and died. But although in some parts of New Granada it descends as low as
2500 feet, its more frequent range is 2000 feet higher up the mountains, and it is in such situations that it attains
its greatest luxuriance and beauty. Some imported specimens that I was fortunate enough to sec last year (1804)
at the Clapton Nursery, whither they had been sent by Mr. Blunt, had flower-stems half an inch thick and fully
C feet high. These were gathered at an elevation of at least 4000 feet above the sea-level and, as they arrived in
excellent condition and have been extensively distributed, I have little doubt we shall ere long see cultivated specimens
that may vie with the wild ones in stature and magnificence. Its flowering season is the spring or early summer.
The figure was taken in May last from a plant in Mr. Bucker's collection where it is grown at the coolest end of
the Cattleya-house.
DISSECTION.— I. Front view of lip ami column ; 2. Side view of ditto : magnified.