Lepanthes
(from lepis, a scale, and anthos, a flower; scales flower-shaped, including the stem). ORD. Orchideae. A genus comprising about forty species of stove epiphytal orchids, natives of the Andes of South and Central America, the West Indies, and Mexico. Allied to Pleurothallus. Flowers very small; peduncles often clustered; sepals spreading; petals small; lip often adnate to the base of the column, two-lobed. The two species described below are those best known to cultivation. For culture, see Pleurothallus. L. calodictyon (handsome-netted). fl. yellow and red, very small. l. sessile, pale green, with rich brown veins. h. 2in. New Grenada, previous to 1861. (B. M. 5259.) L. sanguinea (blood-coloured). fl. blood-coloured; peduncles aggregate, shorter than the leaf; sepals ovate, glandularly ciliated, as also the lip; lateral lobes of lip wing-formed, spreading, middle lobe three-lobed, pressed to the column. January. l. ovate, three-toothed. Jamaica, 1843. (B. M. 4112.)