EPIDENDRUM VITELLINUM.
Epidendrum yitellinum. Lindl. gen. and sp. of orchidaceous plants, p. 97. Botanical
Register, 1840. t. 35.
This plant has been already figured in the Botanical Register, from a small pallid specimen
produced in the garden of George Barker, Esq. of Birmingham. Yet I venture to add it to this
collection; for who could recognize the gorgeous species on the opposite page, in the starveling
just alluded to ?
Epidendrum vitellinum is undoubtedly the handsomest of its genus, not yielding to even such
a plant as E. Skinneri, when it is in a state of perfect health ; a condition in which I regret to say
no one has seen it in this country. Let me hope that the accompanying faithful representation,
taken from specimens gathered by Mr. Hartweg on the Cumbre of Totontepeque, at 9000 feet
above the level of the sea, and in which nothing is in the smallest degree exaggerated, will rouse
the possessors of it to exertion, and induce them to give it the care its singular merits entitle it to.
In what is known of its habits in its native country we possess the key to its proper management,
and the explanation of any failure that has accompanied its cultivation up to the present time. It
is, strictly speaking, an alpine plant; rooting among Lichens, Jungermannias, and other inhabitants
of a cool moist climate ; and never exposed on the one hand to a higher temperature than 75°, nor
on the other to one lower than 45°, but undoubtedly, in its season of rest, enduring as small an amount
of heat as that. Indeed the circumstance, mentioned by Humboldt, that at the elevation of 9000
feet on the mountains of Mexico, there are found Dog Roses and Strawberries, mixed with Pepperworts
(Peperomia) and the Manita (Cheirostemon platanoides), indicates with some accuracy the kind
of climate enjoyed by Epidendrum vitellinum.