Oberonia
(so called after Oberon, the Fairy King, in allusion to the quaint and variable forms of the plant). ORD. Orchideae. A genus comprising about fifty species of stove, epiphytal, tufted Orchids, natives of tropical Asia, Australia, and the Mascarene and Pacific Islands. Flowers small, in numerous dense, sub-cylindrical racemes, or spikes, sessile, or shortly pedicellate; sepals free, sub-equal; petals narrower, or shorter, than the sepals; lip sessile, usually concave. Leaves distichous; sheath compressed, equitant. The species are of botanical more than horticultural interest. Those described below will grow attached to blocks of wood, suspended near the glass, in a warm, moist house. Care must be taken to guard against superfluous moisture, both at the root and in the air, especially during winter. Propagation is effected by dividing the tufts.
O. acaulis (stemless-leaved). fl. orange, numerous, on a long, cylindrical raceme; sepals and petals uniform, ovate, singularly reflexed; lip sub-quadrangular, three-lobed, the middle lobe bilobed; column very short. Spring. l. stemless, few, the longest 1ft. long, ensiform, falcately recurved, long-acuminate. Eastern Bengal. (B. M. 5056.) O. iridifolia (Iris-leaved). A synonym of O. tahitensis. O. tahitensis (Otaheite). fl. yellow, very numerous, verticillate; sepals reflexed, ovate, equal; petals reflexed, erose; lip erect, with a fimbriated, involute margin. June. l. ensiform, similar to those of an Iris, drooping or pendulous, sometimes longer, sometimes shorter, than the raceme. Pacific Islands, 1840. (B. M. 4517, under the name of O. iridifolia.)