Mystacidium
(from mustax, mustakos, a moustache, and eidos, resemblance; in allusion to the pointed prolongation of the lip). SYN. Aeranthus (of Reichenbach, jun.). ORD. Orchideae. A genus comprising about a score species of stove, epiphytal, not pseudo-bulbous Orchids, natives of tropical and South Africa. Flowers usually small, racemose; sepals and petals nearly equal, free, spreading; lip affixed to the base of the column, produced in a long, slender spur, the lateral lobes sometimes ovate, erect, sometimes nearly obsolete, the middle one erect or spreading, often ovate, undivided; pollen masses two; racemes axillary, often short. Leaves distichous, usually few, coriaceous, spreading. Stems leafy, rigid. Only one species is known in gardens. It thrives either on blocks or in baskets, in a cool house, and will succeed under conditions similar to those which suit Angraecum falcatum. M. filicorne (thread-horned). fl. white, 1in. in diameter, numerous; sepals, petals, and lip lanceolate, acute; spur slender, 2in. long or more. l. narrow-oblong, 2in. to 5in. long, about 1/2in. broad, obtusely two-lobed at apex. Natal, 1887. A pretty, free-flowering, Angraecum-like Orchid, of tufted habit. (G. C. ser. iii., vol. ii., p. 135.)