Cycnoches
(from kyknos, a swan, and auchen, a neck; in reference to the long and gracefully curved column). Swan Neck. ORD. Orchideae. The species of this genus are deciduous. Flowers large, produced from nearly the top of the bulb. Pseudo-bulbs thick and fleshy, 6in. to 10in. high, with three or four leaves on the top of each. Propagation is effected by dividing the bulbs when they commence to start into growth. For cultural and structural remarks, see Catasetum.
C. aureum (golden).* fl. light yellow, disposed in long, closely-set racemes. h. 1ft. Central America, 1851. A remarkable and handsome species. (P. F. G. 75.) C. barbatum (bearded).* fl. small, but very pretty; sepals and petals greenish-white, spotted with pink; lip the same colour, and beautifully fringed. June. New Grenada. Very scarce. (B. M. 4479.) C. chlorochilum (greenish-yellow-lipped).* fl. large, very fragrant; sepals and petals yellowish-green; lip lighter. June, July. h. 2ft. Demerara, 1838. C. Egertonianum (Egerton's).* fl. dark purple; sepals and petals membranaceous, recurved; disk of lip roundish, broken into clavate processes; column slender, very long; raceme pendulous, very long. Autumn. h. 2ft. Mexico, 1835. (G. C. 1843, 775.) C. Lehmanni (Lehmann's).* fl., sepals salmon-coloured; petals and lip orange; peduncle many-flowered. l. long, petioled, cuneate, oblong acute, very strong. Pseudo-bulbs about 7in. long, elongate, pear-shaped, furrowed. Columbia, 1880. SYN. Luddemannia Lehmanni.
C. Loddigesii (Loddiges').* fl. 4in. across; sepals and petals of a brownish-green colour, with darker spots, and bearing some resemblance to the expanded wings of a swan; spikes three or four-flowered. Surinam, 1830. Very curious and desirable. (B. M. 4215.) C. maculatum (spotted). fl. buff-colour, thickly spotted with purple; numerously produced on a long raceme. Pseudo-bulbs very short. h. 1ft. Mexico, 1839. (I. H. 20, 143.) C. musciferum (fly-bearing). fl. pale brown; sepals linear-lanceolate, dorsal one refracted; petals linear; lip membranous, hastate; lateral segments linear, ascending, middle one bearded at base, tongue-formed at apex; racemes loose. Early spring. h. 1ft. Columbia, 1849. (P. F. G. iii. 29, 248.) C. pentadactylon (five-fingered). fl. very large; sepals and petals pale yellow, tinged with green, with broad chocolate-coloured blotches; lip of the same colour, divided into five parts, like a man's hand. h. 1ft. Brazil, 1841. Very curious. (B. R. 29, 22.) C. ventricosum (inflated). fl. very sweet-scented; sepals and petals greenish-yellow, with a white lip. July, August. h. 2ft. Guatemala, 1835. C. Warscewiczii (Warscewicz's).* fl. green, those on one spike much larger and totally different in appearance one from the other, so much so that, seen separately, they would be taken as belonging to different genera; the flowers on the shorter spike, with the broad segments and simple lip, are probably female, while the smaller and more numerous flowers on the long raceme, and which have a much-divided lip, are male. 1879. (G. C. n. s., xii. 493.)