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Lissochilus (From lissos smooth and cheilos)

(from lissos, smooth, and cheilos, a lip; in reference to the labellum). SYN. Hypodematium. ORD. Orchideae. A genus comprising about thirty species of usually stove terrestrial orchids, natives of tropical and Southern Africa. They are distinguished from Eulophia in the great disparity between sepals and petals. Flowers often showy, pedicellate, in simple racemes; sepals free, equal, spreading; petals broader or larger than the sepals; lip affixed to the base of the short, semi-terete, erect column; scapes at the sides of the pseudo-bulbs or rhizomatose, leafless, many-sheathed. Leaves long, often narrow, prominently veined or plicate. The stove species require a fibrous loamy soil, with good drainage; and a liberal supply of water will be needed when growing. A decided season of rest is necessary after all growth has ceased, when water may, for some time, be entirely withheld. The undermentioned are the species best known to cultivation. L. Horsfallii (Horsfall's).* fl., sepals rich brown; petals large, white, with a delicate shade of rose; lip green and rich purple; spike several-flowered. l. plicate, sharp-pointed, 2ft. to 3ft. long by 4in. to 6in. broad. Old Calabar, 1865. A very handsome plant. (B. M. 5486.) L. Krebsii (Krebs').* fl. scattered, 1 1/4in. in diameter; sepals green, with dull purple blotches, broadly linear-oblong; petals pale golden-yellow, three to four times as large as the sepals; lip pendulous, sessile, brownish inside; racemes 1ft. to 1 1/2ft. long, twenty to thirty-flowered; scape 2ft. to 3ft. high, stout. l. in copious tufts from base of pseudo-bulb, 8in. to 12in. long, 2in. to 3in. broad. Pseudo-bulbs 2in. to 3in. long, ovoid or elliptic-oblong. Natal, 1867. (B. M. 5861.) L. speciosus (showy). fl. yellow, butterfly-like, produced in large and beautiful spikes. June. Cape of Good hope, 1818. A handsome, free-flowering, greenhouse species. (B. R. 573.) L. streptopetala (twisted-petaled). fl. yellow; sepals oblong-obtuse; petals twice the size of the sepals, twisted at the base; middle lobe of lip roundish, emarginate; spur short, conical. March. l. linear-lanceolate, acute, three-nerved, sheathing at the base. Brazil, 1822. SYN. Eulophia streptopetala (B. M. 2931; B. R. 1002).