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M F I B E M B M ILFM A DTE A W T J A C HT}
TAB. XIIE
P I D E N D R U M * AUBANTIACUM
O R A N G E E P I D E N D R V M .
EPIUESDUUM miraiitiaciim; caulibiis climitis dipliylliH: foliis oblongis obhisis niccmo brevi longioribus;
SL'palis lineari-UmceoIatis acutis sub-lunatis, petalisque subicciualibus coiinivpntiblls: hibello libera
integro ovato colmnniim iiivolvente, peUiiisque subconforaii; colnmnil labello ciuplo breviore.
i D c 5 c r i i ) t i o n .
STE.MS incramUcd, Jointed, iiearl;/ n/lindrkal, from fui/fa fool to ten hiclm iiit/h, tjeariwj tu-o
•venj coriaceovs, ouite-oblong, obtme, and obfUpiefi/ miafifinutt LEAVES, of a deep tiiiiiiiiif/ green,
from tu-o to four inches long. It.WBME, inming from a tchitixh broini. qiathe, shorter thou the
learcs, prodtteing from two to thtrtej;nJlou-t'rx, of a rich and deep orimge-eotonr. PEDICELLS round,
clamte, one inch and a half long, having a slight enlargement on the under side, adjoining thefhicer.
SEr-MS linear-tanccolatc, acute, about on inch long, and scarcelg a tjuorter of an inch broad, the
upper one is erect, the lateral ones slighthj crcscent-shaped. PETALS same si:e as the sepals, ami
convergiug inwards, so as partialhj to conceal the eolunm. Lip entire, nuited onhj to the base of the
column, orate, l)]-oiiiler than the petals, but of the same length, having its edges turned imcards, and
thereby orerlapping the column, orange-eolaurcd, but adorned with a few minute crimson slrealis.
COLUMN scarcely hidf the length of the petals, of a pale greenish yellow.
F O R the introduction of tllis exceedingly pretty Epidcmlram we liavc again to thank ]\rr. SKIXNEK,
by whom plants of it were sent in the early part of 18;!a, from Guatemala, where it is exceedingly plentiful.
I t was also found, by Baron IVAIIWISSKI", in Oirxaca, although, probably, rare in that locality, since it was
neither met with by Mr. BAHKEII'S collector, nor included in a large and richly-stored box, which the
Messrs. SADLEU, of OLLxaca, have kindly sent to us from the environs of that city (the capital of the
province of tlie s;une name).
I n Guatemala it grows only in the higher parts, where tlie mean temperature of the air is, probably,
not more than lia" (Fahrenheit), a circumstance which ought never to be lost sight of in its cultivation ; tor
like many other Orchiclncea- which are found above the usual elevation, it will not thrive under the treatment
applied to the majority of its tribe. It grows, indeed, and freely, among its compeers, and even produces
v i ^ r o u s spathes, but these prove either altogeSier abortive, or are Uie harbingers only of very feeble tlowerscapes.
When our phmts arrived in the aattmm of 1S33, wo observed Uiat even the weakest stems had liorne
from five to seven flowers, wliile upon the strongest wo counted as many as thirteen; when, therefore, the
stems, which, in a short time, were perfected it. the epiphyte house, rivalled in their dimensions the largest
of those imported, we expected a corresponding profnscness in the number of their tlowers. To our great
mortification, however, but one of these stems sent forth a scape, and to Uiis there were attached only two
tlower-bnds, which, although they never made an attempt to expand, contrived, nevertheless, to mature veiy
fonuidable capsules, similar to tlte one represented in U,e Plate. This dl success was attributed to the
unfavourable season at which the shoots were made; when, therefore, in the early part of the ensuing
sunrmer stems were seen rising much above the former height, oar hopes rose in proportion, but only to be
a..ain disappointed ; for, insteirf of tlower-seapes, another set of shoots skirted up. As it was evident that
tl!e plant required rest, it was removed to a cooler hoase, in which, after remainmg dormant dnrmg the
winter it produced, in the spring, a few heads of (lowers, none of them, however, numbering more than four
or five blossoms. This deficiency we at once ascribed to over-exertion in the preceding summer, and, in
order to prevent the recurrence of'a like catastrophe, we determined that, wi.en growing season again amved,
the plant should be permitted to form only one set of shoots, and be immediately removed from the e.xeite