Cochlioda
(from kochlion, a little snail; in reference to the curiously shaped callus). ORD. Orchideae. A genus embracing about six species of stove or greenhouse, evergreen, epiphytal Orchids, natives of the South American Andes. Flowers often red, loosely racemose, pedicellate; sepals equal, spreading, free, or the lateral ones more or less connate; petals nearly similar; claw of the lip erect, the lamina spreading, the lateral lobes rounded and often reflexed, the middle one narrow, entire or emarginate, not exceeding the sepals; column erect, often slightly incurved; scapes one or two, springing from under the pseudo-bulbs. Leaves oblong or narrow, coriaceous, contracted into the petioles. Pseudo-bulbs one or two-leaved. The three species here described should be grown in baskets suspended from the roof of the cool-house. Peat and moss form the most suitable compost; and abundance of water during the growing season is essential. Propagation may be effected by division of the pseudo-bulbs.
C. rosea (rosy). fl. wholly rosy-carmine, except the white tip of the column, about 1in. across; sepals and petals oblong-elliptic; lip cuneate at base, the small lateral lobes inclosing the disk, which bears a four-lobed callus, the middle one longer, linear, dilated at the end; racemes drooping, twelve to twenty-flowered. Winter. l. ligulate-oblong. Pseudo-bulbs green, tinted violet, ovate, two-edged. Peru, 1851. SYNS. Mesospinidium roseum, Odontoglossum roseum (B. M. 6084; I. H. ser. iii. 66). C. sanguinea (bloody). fl. numerous, bright rose-coloured, waxy in appearance; racemes slender, drooping, slightly branched. Summer and autumn. l. two, cuneate-ligulate. Pseudo-bulbs oval, compressed, banded with mottled brown. Peru and Ecuador. SYN. Mesospinidium sanguineum (B. M. 5627). C. vulcanica (volcanic). fl. about 2in. across; sepals and petals dark rose; lip bright rose in front, paler on the disk, where there is a four-keeled callus; the side lobes roundish, the middle one emarginate; racemes unilateral, erect, twelve to twenty-flowered; peduncle slender, erect. l. oblong, keeled, 3in. to 5in. long. Pseudo-bulbs ovoid, compressed, more or less two-edged. Eastern Peru. SYN. Mesospinidium rulcanicum (B. M. 6001).