Ionopsis
(from Ion, a Violet, and opsis, like; flowers resemble a Violet in form). SYNS. Cybelion and Iantha. ORD. Orchideoe. A genus of very pretty little epiphytal stemless Orchids, requiring a stove temperature, natives of the West Indies and tropical America from Mexico to Brazil. About ten species have been described, but it is doubtful whether more than two or three are really distinct. Flowers small, panicled; sepals and petals connivent; lip large, fan-shaped, two-lobed at the apex. Leaves few, lanceolate. Pseudo-bulbs small. The only species much seen in cultivation is I. paniculata. It is a very difficult plant to grow, and is rarely brought to perfection. It succeeds best on a block, with a little live sphagnum around the roots, which require to be kept moist nearly all the year round. Similar treatment will answer for the other species.
I. paniculata (panicled). fl. snow-white or delicate rose-colour, scentless; scape panicled, 1 1/2ft. high; petals obtuse; lip pubescent; lip rotundate, bilobed, much longer than the sepals. l. linear-lanceolate, keeled. Brazil, 1865. (B. M. 5541.) I. tenera (tender). A synonym of I. utricularioides. I. utricularioides (Utricularia-like). fl. white, with a pink stain at the base of the lip, racemose; sepals and petals acute, sub-equal; lip pubescent; limb bilobed, much longer than the sepals. l. rigid, acute, furrowed, keeled at the base. Tropical America. SYN. I. tenera. (B. R. 1904.)