present Monograph. I had expected that after the work of importation had fairly commenced,
not only would the species described by Lindley and Reichenbach be easily obtained,
but that along with these a multitude of others entirely new to science would likewise be received.
In this respect, however, the results have scarcely come up to expectations ; a circumstance that
is partly to be .accounted for by the difficulty attendant on their importation,* but which is owing,
I grieve to say, in a far greater degree to the untimely deaths of those zealous collectors, Bowman
and Pearse, who, when in the very heart of the cool Orchid regions of Ecuador and Peru,
succumbed under the pressure of their arduous labours. I n Mexico, from which much novelty
was expected, little has been added to the number of Odontoglossa previously known, and
the same may be said of Costa Rica, notwithstanding the vigorous exertions of Mr. Endries.
But in these countries it is evident that the genus is not so fully developed as in the
mountain ranges of New Grenada, Quito, and Peru. From the latter country little
indeed has yet been received, although the eastern slopes of its Andean chain are probably
richer in species of unknown or unimported Orchids than any other portion of the globe. But
we must await further improvements in the navigation of the affluents of the mighty Amazon,
before we can hope to receive any large instalment of these much-coveted treasures.
A combination of the various causes referred to above, by limiting the choice of materials,
has seriously delayed the publication of this work, which I had hoped would by this time have
reckoned at least a dozen parts. But_ as there seems to be no immediate prospect of these
hindrances to more rapid progress being taken out of the way, and as the sands of my life are fast
running out, I have thought it best in the interests of my subscribers, to make the present
number the last. The six parts now published will, however, form a volume of convenient size,
and one which may, as I trust, serve to show how rich New Grenada is in the members of this
glorious genus. What wealth of Odontoglossa Peru may possess, I must leave some future
botanist to unfold. He will have a pleasant task, and will probably have doubled the roll of
the genus as now known, before his work is done.
During the progress of this Monograph a curious incident has occurred, which may
deserve a brief notice. When the publication was commenced, the introduction of two particular
plants—more perhaps than of any others known to orchidists—was earnestly desired by growers,
these two being the Odontoglossum crispum of Lindley, and the Cuitlauzina pendula of Lexarza.
The finding, or rather the re-finding of the former—so magnificent were the specimens in the
Lindleyan Herbarium was declared to be worth a king's ransom ; while for the latter—
described as a native of Oaxaca—more than one collector had scoured that province in vain.
Strange to say, they were already in our grasp: the 0. crispum being none other than
my 0. Alexandra, while—as explained under Plate VIII.—the Cuitlauzina proves to
be identical with the long previously introduced Odontoglossum citrosmum of Lindley.
Whether all the botanical pressure that can be brought to bear upon our cultivators may suffice
* Cool Orchids from the interior of South America, have either to be carried across the Andes, where the intense cold of tho
passes is often fatal to them, or to be conveyed by a tedious voyage down the great rivors, where the heat is greater than their
constitution—often delicatc—can endure. In this way whole importations have been lost, including, I am sorry to say, one or two
cargoes of the exquisite Odontoylossum ir«rczewi/zii (figured in Reichcnbach's " Xcnia") which still unhappily remains a
desideratum.
to convert 0. Alexandra into 0. crispum, or change 0. citrosmum into 0. pendulum, is an
extremely doubtful question, so strong is the hold that the erroneous names have already secured
on the public mind. In the parallel case of Wellingtonia, that popular Conifer—though now
almost universally admitted to be a Sequoia^-remains Wellingtonia still, and seems likely to do
so for all time to come.
The range of the genus Odontoglossum, as may be gathered from the descriptions attached
to the various Plates, is of a peculiar character, being at once restricted and extensive. It is
restricted, for it never leaves the Andes, and it is extensive, for it is found in all parts of that
vast mountain-chain, from the confines of Florida to the frontiers of Chili. As yet no species has
ever been met with at a lower elevation than 2500 feet above the sea-level, nor, with the exception
of 0. hastilabium, has any Odontoglossum been known to descend so low ;—the most usual
altitude being 5-6000 feet, though a higher point is often reached. Like the humming-birds
which frequent the same mountains, and vie with them in beauty, nearly all the Odontoglossa are
exceedingly local, and in this way two of the most beautiful species, e.g., O. vexillarium and 0.
Roezlii, eluded discovery for many years, even in a region supposed to be well explored by collectors.
As to the botanical limits of the genus, I must needs confess that they are exceedingly
difficult to fix. It is as true now as when Professor Lindley first made the observation to me, that
" The more we build up the partition walls between Odontoglossum, Oncidium, &c., the more the
species break them down." Certainly no one at first sight would suppose Odontoglossum
cariniferum was anything but an Oncidium, nor Oncidium macranthum other than an Odontoglossum.
Indeed, I must own to a suspicion that ultimately both these genera, together with
Miltonia, Mesospinidium, Aspasia, and possibly one or two others, may come to be regarded
merely as sw£-genera, But this difficult question is safest left in Professor Reichenbach's far
abler hands. At the same time, it is not to be denied that there is such a peculiar look about
the Odontoglossa, that even a non-scientific observer has seldom any difficulty in at once
referring most of the species to their true position.
One other matter remains to which I must very briefly advert. Mr. Darwin's fascinating
work on the " Fertilization" of Orchids has led many persons to suppose that this beautiful tribe
lends an exceptional amount of support to the theory with which that ingenious writer's name is
so prominently associated, but there could scarcely be a greater mistake. Not only is the theory
in question utterly rejected by Professor Reichenbach, the facile princeps of living orchidists,
but the greater our knowledge of the order, the less countenance does it seem to yield to the
Darwinian view. VVe have now become perfectly well acquainted with all the genera—we
might almost say with all the species—that belong to particular countries, but it is in these
that the limits of variation between the different forms are most distinctly defined; in these,
too, the great principle of unity in diversity is most conspicuous—the genera holding aloof from
each other, and even the species keeping themselves distinct, although tho Orchid mark is unmistakeably
stamped upon all alike. Mr. Gould has remarked, in his great work on the
" Trochilida," that the Darwinian theory derives no support from them, and the same may be
safely affirmed of Orchids, which—we are now speaking of America—are the humming-birds' constant
associates. Neither, while we contemplate the marvellous and inexhaustible variety of form