Home › A › Acineta (From akineta immovable the lip)

Acineta (From akineta immovable the lip)

(from akineta, immovable; the lip being jointless). ORD. Orchideae>. A small genus of cool house, robust, sub-terrestrial orchids allied to Peristeria. Flowers sub-globose, fleshy, arranged on stout, pendulous racemes. Leaves lanceolate, membranous, ribbed. Pseudo-bulbs angular, about as large as hens' eggs. The compost should consist of equal parts of fibrous peat and living sphagnum. In planting, first place a somewhat thick layer of the moss all round the inside of the basket, and press the soil firmly round the plant. During the growing season, the baskets should be taken down twice or three times a week and dipped into a tub of water, so that the whole may become saturated. In addition, the plants should be sprinkled with the syringe morning and evening, for they delight in an abundant supply of water and plenty of shade. When the growth is finished, they must be kept very dry, an occasional syringing, to keep the leaves from shrivelling, being all that is necessary.

A. Arcei (Arce's). fl. yellow. Central America, 1866. A. Barkeri (Barker's).* fl. yellow and dark crimson, on stout scapes, produced from the base of the bulbs, and bearing fifteen to thirty fragrant flowers. Midsummer. l. broadly lanceolate, 2ft. long. Pseudo-bulbs 5in. to 7in. long. Mexico, 1837. SYN. Peristeria Barkeri.

A. chrysantha (yellow-flowered).* fl. yellow, white, and crimson, fragrant; lower part of the lip having a blunt, papillose horn; racemes erect. May. h. 2ft. Mexico, 1850.

A. densa (dense-flowered).* fl. sub-globose, and of a waxy consistence, lemon-yellow, dotted brown, sweet-scented; racemes rather short. Costa Rica, 1849. A robust-growing species, very like A. Barkeri. SYN. Warzewiczii. A. Humboldtii (Humboldt's).* fl. straw-colour, dotted with brown; scapes 2ft. long. May. l. broadly lanceolate, generally four. Columbia, 1872. A handsome species, but the flowers speedily fade. SYNS. Anguloa superba, Peristeria Humboldtii fulva.

A. sulcata (grooved). fl. bright yellow. Columbia, 1879. Very like the last species, from which it differs in mere botanical detail. A. Warczewiczii (Warczewicz's). A synonym of A. densa.