Octadesmia
(from okto, eight, and desme, a bundle; in reference to the eight pollen masses). ORD. Orchideae. A genus comprising only three species of stove, epiphytal Orchids, natives of Jamaica and San Domingo. Flowers mediocre, shortly pedicellate; sepals almost of equal length, somewhat spreading; petals a little broader than the sepals; lip at base of column nearly erect; peduncle terminal, simple or slightly branched. Leaves linear-lanceolate, distichous, some-what rigid, not fleshy. O. montana, the only species in cultivation, is a singular little Orchid, more curious than beautiful. It succeeds in an intermediate house, planted in a small teak basket, using a compost of peat fibre, sphagnum, and bits of charcoal. Water must be liberally supplied during summer, and, to a considerable extent, withheld during winter.
O. montana (mountain). fl. white, suffused with a fulvous colour; sepals and petals lanceolate; lip oblong-linear, crenulate; raceme terminal, few-flowered. October. l. distichous, serrulate at apex, linear-lanceolate, sheathed at base. h. 6in. Rio Janeiro, 1826. (B. M. 2823, under name of Octomeria serratifolia.)