ODONTOGLOSSUM N^VIUM lml
Odontoclossum n^
mullirioris; scpalis pclalisque !
gross is Iridenticulatft pubcsccnt
Odontoulossum N.1£\
Pescatorca, t, 13 ; Rchlx f. in W
XXII., p. £», t. 791 (var. majus);
Tliis elegant little species
was also given. The plant ¡9 said
lis ovoidcis compressis ancipitibus ;
is acLininatissirais undulatis ; labello
lata, cirrhis siibulatis p,itulis,
:t. Fl, Gacd, I. (1850-i), p. S7, t 18 ; id. I
lip. Ann., VI., p. 835 Cexcl. var. majus) ; Warn. Sel, Oreli.,
- • :li Man. Oreh. Pl., pt. i, pp. 51, 52 (in part) cum xyl.
lower Garden," early in Ihs year 1851 ; on excellent coloured fi(;urc
Sir U. Sdiombui^k, and was exhibited by Messrs. Loddigcs at one
four years previously in another collection, for Unillcy reinarkj:—
1847, with rather larger blossoms." A single Itower, together with
J " Rollisson's, Juno, 1847," and these prove the plant to have been
originally described by Dr. Lindley in I'axton's " Fl
to Kngland sevei al ' "" " ' "'
le Spring meetings of the Horticultural Society in that year. It had,
" Another supposed variety of this same plant was flowered by Messrs. R
a faithful coloured drawing of the same, is preserved in Lindley's " '
really our present species. Lindley, howeve
-—"What appears to bo the same species is No- 721 of Mr. Linden's Herbarium of 184^ found by hia
collectors, Funck and Schlim, at the height (
feet, at St Lazaro and La Peila, in the province of Truxillo, and snid to have a yellow lip spotted with
crimson—a circumstance possibly connected
e colour of the fading Howers." Here, however, Lindley fell into error, for the dried specimen preserved
in his Herbarium is a form of his O. odoratur. —
" " into further confusion, for in his"FoliaOrdiidacea"hoaddcd a"varietyni ' " '
on Linden n. 146, found at 8,000 feet altitude in the province of Pamplona, in New Granada, which, however, is O. gloriosum, Linden & Rchb. f. incse
mistakes have repeated themselves with tolerable regularity through the books <iown to the present day; consequently the true habitat of the species has been
obscured, Bateman indeed, supposes that Schombu^k must have discovered it among the southern aflluents of tlie Orinoco, somewhere about the fourth
parallel of latitude and ll.e Iwenty-fiah to twenty-seventh of longitude, at about 7,000 feel altitude, together with Maxillaria eburnea nnd others ; but this
seems to me highly improbable, and i rather suspect its reported introduction by Schombut^k is due to some garden error. Although Lintlleys variety
majus belongs to a different species, that of Warner, figured in his " Select Orchidaceous Plants," is genuine, but only differs in having slightly larger flowers ;
as may also be said of the variety figured in the " Gartenflora." 0. n.-evium, as may be judged by the above-named confusion, is closely allied to 0. odoratuin,
0 gloriosum, and one or t^vo others, but may readily be distinguished by its pure white, undulate segments, covered widi numerous purple spots, and the
yellow disc. li.A.Rclfi.
cs analytics- Flos. C0I1
T h e r e are few Odontoglossums in existence rivalling this species for cliaste beauty. Wc cultivate about a thousand
plants of it, and a more fascinating sight than these when in flower—during the month of May—cannot be conceived.
There is a great mistake attached to the introduction of this orchid. It was without doubt brought to Europe
about the year 1845, and no other plants arrived until we received an importation in 1885, so for some forty years the
plant was lost. We think it was originally introduced by Rollissons, and it probably came home from a correspondent
in Columbia. After an ineffectual search during a period of twenty years, we were at last rewarded for our labours,
resulting in the successful importation of a lai-ge number of these plants.
An error, easily explained, arose through the fact that in a dried state 0, nsvium much resembles O. odoratum
album, and we believe that neither Funck or Wallis, or any other collectors who sent home dried specimens, ever saw the
true plant, but simply sent home the white form of O. odoratum.
The two Odontoglossums nearest the subject of our illustration in appearance are Odontoglossum blandum, which
is a much smaller-growing plant, and Odontoglossum cirrosum, from which, however, it is easily distinguiiihable.
We will not say that Lindley was purposely guided wrong when he gave his description of the plant, but certain
it is that no majus form of n^vium exists, and that what he described as such was simply Odontoglossom odoratum
albutn; nor could Sir Robert Schoraburgk have ever seen this orchid, as he did not travel near the only spot where it
has ever been collected, and Sir Robert, therefore, cannot have been the sender of the plafit which flowered with Messrs.
Loddiges.
Our plate was taken from a plant in the collection of Charles W. Lea, Ksq., ParkHeld, Hallow, Worcester.