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Orchids (Nearly a score species have)

Nearly a score species have been described, although, probably, not more than three have been introduced; they are natives of Brazil, Guiana, and the West Indies. Flowers whitish or yellowish, inconspicuous, in dense, sessile clusters; anther-bed rotundate, rostellum short; pollinia eight. Leaves oblong, linear, or sub-terete. Stem developed. These curious little Pleurothallis-like epiphytes are frequently imported along with Bromeliads, about the bases of which they grow on the trunks of large trees. For their cultivation they require greenhouse treatment. They thrive in pots of peat and sphagnum, and require abundance of water at all times. O. graminifolia (Grass-leaved). fl. pale yellow, with two red spots; perigonal divisions ovate-lanceolate, interior little shorter; lip cuneate-oblong, blunt, or minutely denticulate at the summit, obliquely two-crested, and with two short lateral lobes at the middle. May. l. lanceolate-linear. h. 6in. West Indies, 1793. (B. M. 2764.) O. Saundersiana (Saunders'). fl. pale yellow, with three purple stripes on the sepals and petals; lip ochre-coloured; disk and calli mauve, streaked in front, and numerously dotted. Winter. l. thick, terete, subulate. Brazil, 1880.

O. serratifolia (serrate-leaved). A synonym of Octadesmia montana. O. tricolor (three-coloured). fl. white, small. l. cuneate-oblong, tessellated with purple beneath. Brazil, 1872.

ODONTADENIA (from odous, odontos, a tooth, and aden, a gland; in allusion to the five-toothed glands). SYNS. Anisolobus, Cylicadenia. ORD. Apocynaceae. A genus comprising about eighteen species of stove, scandent shrubs, natives of tropical America, mostly Brazil and Guiana. Flowers yellow, showy, disposed in loose, often large, rarely few-flowered and scarcely branched cymes; calyx five-parted; corolla funnel-shaped or sub-hypocrateriform. Leaves opposite, penniveined. O. speciosa, probably the only species in cultivation, perhaps does best when planted out in a prepared border in the stove, and the long shoots trained along the rafters. If cultivated in pots, a fairly liberal amount of root-room must be accorded; and thorough drainage is always essential. Good turfy loam, pieces of charcoal, a handful of coarsely-crushed bones and sharp sand, make a compost in which the species succeed well. Insects must be kept in check by fumigation, or the use of one or other of the insecticides mentioned in this work. Odontadenias are propagated by cuttings of the young shoots, which strike readily in bottom heat. O. speciosa (showy). fl. bright yellow, shaded with orange, large, of good form, and delicately scented. l. large, oblongovate, acute, quite smooth, dark green. Trinidad, 1854. SYN. Dipladenia Harrisi. (B. M. 4825.) ODONTOGLOSSUM (from odous, odontos, a tooth, and glossa, a tongue; referring to the tooth-like processes on the lip). Including Mesospinidium (some of the plants grown in gardens under the generic name of Mesospinidium, belong to the genus Cochlioda). ORD. Orchideae. This genus comprises, according to some authorities, over one hundred species of handsome, stove Orchids, inhabiting the Andes of tropical America, from Bolivia as far as Mexico. Flowers with spreading, free sepals; petals nearly equal; lip with its base parallel with the column, and its limb deflexed and generally crested in various ways; column usually long, narrow at the base, and eared, or winged, at the summit; pollen masses two, with a narrow caudicle attached to an oval gland. Leaves in nearly all the species ensiform, usually sub-coriaceous in texture, linear-lanceolate or simply lanceolate, complicate at base, tapering to a more or less acute point. This genus is distinguished from Oncidium by the column being long and narrow, or, at any rate, not swollen, at the base, and by the base of the lip being always parallel with the face of the column. For purposes of cultivation, the Odontoglossums may be divided into two groups, comprising (1) all those species which require the treatment of an intermediate house, i.e., a temperature not lower than 50deg. to 55deg. in winter, and correspondingly high in summer; and (2) those which will thrive in a cool house, from which frost only is excluded, or, for safety, say, where the temperature will not fall below 40deg. Many of these plants, as well as other orchids, are found at very high elevations, where, at some seasons, they are visited by slight frosts and snow. Recently, many species of Odontoglossum have been successfully cultivated out of doors under the shade of trees, and where the atmosphere about them could not become too parched. The plants are hung up, either in baskets or on rafts, exactly as when cultivated under glass, and are syringed frequently in dry weather; they are not injured, but, on the contrary, much benefited, by frequent showers of rain. It is probable that, as these and other Orchids become cheaper, they will be cultivated at much less cost than at present, and no doubt outdoor cultivation, for at least a portion of the year, will be adopted for a great number of those from cool and temperate climes. Even those from warmer regions would most probably be improved by open-air cultivation during our hot season. For the species requiring warm-house treatment, and which are distinguished in the subjoined list by a dagger (dagger), the following points must be attended to. When making their growth, which is during the summer, they require plenty of water, a position near the glass, where they would be shaded only from bright sunshine, and a moist atmosphere, with plenty of fresh air about them, care being taken that the temperature does not fall too low through the latter. During the winter, they should be kept almost dry, and, in spring, quite dry till the flower spikes appear, when water should be applied liberally, and continued till the summer's growth is again completed. The species grown in a cool house do not, as a rule, require a resting season similar to the above, but should be kept uniformly moist at the roots all the year round; indeed, many of them grow freely all through the winter. None of them like direct sunshine in summer, but in winter they enjoy all the sunlight possible. It is, therefore, a good plan to place the plants in a house with a northerly aspect for the summer, whilst, on the return of the cold, dull weather of winter, they may, with advantage, be removed into a house with an aspect due south. In the United States, the Odontoglossums invariably make two growths a year, the one in summer, and the other in winter, the latter being favoured by the clear and bright light which prevails in North America in winter. It should be remembered that, whilst very few orchids--certainly no Odontoglossums--enjoy excessive sunlight, they are, nevertheless, much healthier and more floriferous when grown in a house where they can obtain all the light possible, short of the fierce sunlight of our summers. Generally, Odontoglossums require a moist atmosphere at all times, and, after a bright day, are much invigorated by a gentle dewing overhead by means of a syringe. A few of the species, such as O. Cervantesii, O. Londesboroughianum, O. Rossii Dawsonianum, &c., may be satisfactorily grown when fastened on to a block, formed of fern stem; but Odontoglossums succeed best when grown in baskets or in pots, using a mixture of peat (broken into lumps the size of walnuts) and sphagnum, with a few lumps of charcoal and a little sand scattered through it. Pots should be half-filled with drainage, and baskets covered at the bottom with a large crock, or a few pieces of charcoal. Round the top of the soil a little fresh sphagnum should be placed; it will soon grow, and cover the whole surface with a fresh green, and prevent excessive evaporation in hot weather. To establish newly-imported Odontoglossums, they should be first carefully examined, and all dead bulbs, scales, and roots cut away; they may then be rinsed in warm water, and allowed to dry, before placing them in a little soil. The pots used should be as small as possible, all that is necessary being room for the base of the plant to stand in each with a little peat and sphagnum about it. Very little soil must be used, the pot being filled almost full of crocks; unless this precaution is taken, there is danger of the weakened plants being injured, and perhaps killed, by the water which would be held about them by a large body of soil. They should be placed in a shaded part of the house where they are to be grown when established. It is not wise to attempt to force the plants into growth by subjecting them to a high temperature, as the effect of this, although promising at first, is to weaken the whole plant by causing it to start into growth before it has recovered from the injuries caused by importation. All the Odontoglossums are propagated by division, none having, as yet, been raised from seeds in this country. Mr. H. Veitch, in his paper on the "Hybridisation of Orchids," read at the Orchid Conference, on May 13th, 1885, says that numerous crosses between various species, both Mexican and New Grenadan, have been effected, and capsules, with apparently good seed, have been produced; but, with the utmost care that could be bestowed, no progeny has yet been raised.

The plants which are, perhaps, best known under the names of O. Phalaenopsis, O. Roezlii, O. vexillarium, &c., but which, in this work, are referred to the genus Miltonia, will not hybridise--or, at any rate, no one, up to the present time, has succeeded in making them do so--with any of the true Odontoglots. Certainly, it appears to favour the view here taken of the generic affinities of the plants in question, when, on the authority of Messrs. Veitch and Sons, we are enabled to state that, with other Miltonias, they cross and intercross readily. Through some mistake or other, Mr. Bentham, in the "Genera Plantarum," asserts the contrary.

A considerable number of Odontoglots, which are generally accorded specific rank, are here reduced to varieties. In this we have been guided, to a great extent, by Messrs. Veitch and Sons, who have made a special study of the genus, and carefully compared, as they flowered, the numerous specimens of each so-called species in their magnificent collection. We are indebted to the firm in question for permission to peruse the manuscript of their yet unpublished monograph.

O. acuminatum (taper-pointed). A synonym of O. Rossii. O. Alexandrae (Alexandra's). A synonym of O. crispum. O. A. Bowmani (Bowman's). A synonym of O. crispum guttatum. O. anceps (two-edged). A synonym of O. maculatum.

O. Andersonianum (Anderson's). A variety of O. crispum. O. anthoxanthum (yellow-flowered). fl. sulphur-coloured, small, growing in a flexuous raceme; lip sub-cordate at the base, three-lobed. Peru, 1869. O. aspersum (sprinkled). A variety of O. Rossii.

O. bictonense (Bicton).*dagger fl. about 1in. across, varying much in colour, most frequently yellowish-green, transversely barred with brownish-purple, whilst the lip is lilac, shaded with violet, or sometimes nearly white; spikes about 2ft. high, bearing from twenty to thirty flowers. April. Pseudo-bulbs and leaves bright green. Guatemala, 1835. This plant was formerly a great favourite, and, moreover, was the first Odontoglot which reached England in a living state; but, since the introduction of so many fine kinds, it has gone somewhat out of fashion. It is, however. remarkably free in its flowering and habit of growth. (B. M. 3812, under name of Zygopetalum africanum; B. O. 18; B. R. 1840, 66.) This species has many varieties, of which the two following are by far the best: album, in which the lip is pure white; and superbum, having sepals and petals heavily blotched with rich crimson-brown, and a deep coloured rosy-purple lip.

O. blandum (fair).* fl. yellowish-white, beautifully spotted and freckled with maroon-crimson; sepals and petals narrow and acuminated; lip with an ovate-acuminate, crisped blade. Columbia, 1870. A handsome plant, somewhat resembling O. naevium, but with the blade of the lip much more expanded. (B. O. 28.) O. Bluntii (Blunt's). A synonym of O. crispum.

O. brevifolium (short-leaved), of gardens. A synonym of O. coronarium. O. cariniferum (keel-bearing).dagger fl., sepals and petals oblong-lanceolate, greenish outside, and furnished on the middle line with keels; inside they are chestnut-brown, bordered with greenish-yellow or yellow; lip with the claw of violet colour, the cordate-acute anterior part being white; panicle large, branched. l. cuneate-oblong, ligulate. Pseudo-bulb oblong, two-leaved. Central America, 1855. SYN. O. hastilabium fuscatum. (B. M. 4919; B. O. 10.) O. Cervantesii (Cervantes').*dagger fl. from 1in. to 2in. across; sepals and petals rosy-lilac, barred at the base with crimson-brown; lip cordate or triangular, white or lilac; spikes 6in. high, three to five-flowered. March and April. l. lanceolate, solitary. Pseudo-bulbs angular. Oaxaca, 1845. A pretty, dwarf-growing species. SYN. O. membranaceum. (B. R. 1845, 36; L. & P. F. G. i. 15.) O. C. decorum (becoming). A fine variety, with larger flowers and more brightly-coloured markings than the type. (F. M. n. s. 254.) O. C. majus (larger). A good variety, with larger and more brightly-spotted flowers than the type. Mexico, 1879.

O. C. punctatissimum (much-spotted). A handsome variety, having flowers covered with neat, purplish spots. 1878. (B. O. 10.) O. cirrhosum (tendrilled).*dagger fl. milk-white, with deep purplish-violet dark spots on sepals, petals, and the anterior, inferior part of lip, the basilar part of which is whitish-yellow at both sides, and with purplish-violet radiating lines; sepals lanceolate, ending in bristles; petals much broader; lip cuneate, dilatates going out in two blunt, wavy angles, the upper part bearing an open sheath around the column, the anterior expanded; peduncles racemose or panicled, many-flowered, l. linear-ligulate. Pseudo-bulbs ligulate, ancipitate. Ecuador, 1876. See fig 713, for which we are indebted to Messrs. Veitch and Sons. (B. M. 6317; G. C. n. s., v. 503.) O. c. gemmatum (jewelled). A good variety, with groups of mauve or purple stains at the base of the sepals and petals.

O. c. Hrubyanum (Hruby's). A variety having flowers without spots, or with but few traces of them.

O. c. Klabochianum (Klaboch's). A variety with much larger flowers than the type.

O. citrosmum (Lemon-scented).*dagger fl., sepals and petals pure white, delicately lemon-scented; lip purple, crescent-shaped; racemes pendulous, bearing from fifteen to thirty flowers. May. l. thick. Pseudo bulbs smooth, shining light green. Guatemala, 1840. SYN. O. pendulum (B. O. 6). (B. R. xxix. 3; F. d. S. 633.) O. c. album (white). fl. white, except the crest on the claw of the lip. O. c. punctatum (dotted). fl. pale rose; sepals and petals dotted with purple. O. c. roseum (rose). fl. having the blade of the lip deep rose. O. constrictum (contracted). fl., sepals and petals bright yellow, with orange-brown blotches and bars; lip pandurate, white, tipped with yellow, and bearing two conspicuous rose-coloured spots near the centre; panicles large, branched, many-flowered. l. elongate, linear-lanceolate. Pseudo-bulbs ovoid, compressed, ribbed, dark green. Caraccas, 1843. A pretty, free-flowering plant. (B. M. 5736.) O. c. Sanderianum (Sander's).* fl., sepals and petals light ochre, with brown marks and stripes, lanceolate, acuminate; lip cordate at base, with two short, upright lobes; blade large, sub-pandurate, acute, wavy, white, tinted with sulphur, and having a large purple-crimson mark between the calli, and some spots in front. Columbia (?), 1881. A handsome, Hawthorn-scented variety, superior to the type.

O. Coradinei (Coradine's). A variety of O. Lindleyanum. O. cordatum (heart-shape-lipped). fl., sepals and petals yellow, blotched and barred with deep rich chocolate-brown, very much elongated, and curiously wavy; lip large, heart-shaped, varying somewhat in its markings, ground colour white, blotched with lilac and purplish-red, or sometimes with pale yellow and crimson; scape 1ft. or more in height, stiff, erect, simple or branched, few or many-flowered. Late spring. l. bright green, with yellow lines. Pseudo-bulbs oblong, generally one-leaved. Guatemala and Mexico, 1837. A free-flowering and easily-grown species, though less striking than many of its congeners. (B. M. 4878, under name of O. maculatum; B. O. 25; R. G. 356.) O. c. sulphureum (sulphur-coloured). fl., sepals sulphur-coloured; petals and lip white, with sulphur tips and blotches. Mexico, 1880. A highly curious variety.

O. coronarium (crowned).* fl., sepals and petals reddish-brown, edged with yellow; lip bright golden-yellow; spike erect, 1ft. or more in height, bearing from thirty to forty blossoms. Pseudo-bulbs large, wrinkled, flat, produced at intervals along a creeping rhizome, bearing a short, oblong leaf at the apex. Peru, 1868. (B. O. 27; G. C. n. s., xii. 301; W. O. A. i. 27, under name of O. brevifolium.) O. c. Dayanum (Day's). fl., petals yellow, with brown marbling; lip with two conical acute warts on each side of the crest.

O. crinitum (hairy). fl. striped and blotched, racemose; sepals and petals lanceolate, acuminate; lip covered with filiform processes. Columbia, 1882. A very distinct species. (R. X. O. 191, 3.) O. crispum (curled).* fl., sepals and petals pure white, ovate or ovate-lanceolate, the petals being much undulated, and often fimbriately toothed; lip oblong-acuminate, yellow, crested towards the base, beautifully crisped at the margin, and more or less spotted towards the front with blotches of reddish-brown; racemes pendulous, usually from six to twelve-flowered. New Grenada. This is one of the gems of the cool orchid-house, since, by a little management, its charming flowers may be had all the year round. It is a plant which varies to an almost endless extent, no two, of the many thousands imported, being, perhaps, exactly alike, and very considerable difference in size, colouring, or crispness in the flowers constantly presenting itself. See Fig. 715, for which we are indebted to Mr. Wm. Bull. SYNS. O. Alexandra and O. Bluntii (F. d. S. 1652). (B. O. 19.) O. c. Andersonianum (Anderson's).* fl. milky yellowish-white, with some very broad, cinnamon, longitudinal stripes; sepals and petals ovate-oblong, acute, crisped; lip pandurate, with wavy and toothed margins. Pseudo-bulbs ligulate, pyriform. Columbia, 1868. A very handsome and rare plant. SYN. O. Josephinae (W. O. A. iv. 188). (F. M. n. s. 45; W. O. A. i. 35.) O. c. A. guttulatum (small-spotted). fl. beautifully marked with small brown spots on the sepals and petals; lip white, with a yellow base and a few brown lines. A pretty sub-variety.

O. c. Chestertonii (Chesterton's). fl., sepals and petals broad, the sepals white, with small reddish-brown transverse blotches; petals white, with two to five red-brown spots; lip red-brown, with a broad, yellowish-white margin. O. c. fastuosum (proud). fl., odd sepal deep bluish-lilac, with a white border and two large brown-violaceous blotches; lateral sepals white on the inner half, lilac-violet on the outer, blotched brownish-violet towards the base; petals white, with a brownish-violet line at base; lip obovate, very flat; keels yellow. A distinct variety. 1878.

O. c. flaveolum (yellowish). A distinct variety, with yellow flowers, and a very few red spots and lines. Bogota, 1880. (W. O. A. i. 43.) O. c. giganteum (gigantic). fl. white, spotted all over very profusely with reddish-brown, large; spike 3ft. high, branching, and many-flowered. A very fine, but rare, variety.

O. c. guttatum (spotted).* A well-marked variety. To the general features of the typical species, it adds larger flowers, of a pure white ground colour, with a few well-marked spots of a coppery red on each sepal and petal, and the singularly oblong-quadrate appendiculate lip suffused with yellow towards the base, where it is margined with brown spots, terminating in one larger central one, and forming a ring around the disk. New Grenada, 1867. SYN. O. Alexandrae Bowmani (B. M. 5697, under name of O. Alexandrae guttatum; W. O. A. ii. 94.) O. c. Jenningsianum (Jennings').* fl. cream-white, with many light cinnamon blotches, which are very numerous in the petals; base of lip yellow, with a few cinnamon lines. 1878. A pretty plant, the flowers of which are said to be exceedingly like those of O. c. Ruckerianum, but distinct by their very crisp, wavy nature, and by the basilar callus of the lip. (G. C. n.s., ii. 366.) O. c. Lehmanni (Lehmann's). fl. usually purple, with a brown tint, numerous; inflorescence branched. l. rather narrow. South America, 1880. A curious plant.

O. c. limbatum (bordered). fl. milk-white; sepals richly marked with lilac; lip with numerous violet spots at the tip, and with yellow lamellae and a few streaks at the base; panicle many-flowered. Columbia, 1870. An interesting orchid. (R. X. O. 183, 2.) O. c. Mariae (Miss Marie Andre's). A beautiful variety, with pure white flowers, except two red spots at base of lower sepals, a few red streaks on the column, and the callus tinted with yellow. Columbia, 1879. (I. H. n. s. 325.) O. c. Ruckerianum (Rucker's).* fl., ground colour creamy-white; sepals and petals bordered with deep violet, with a few chestnut-brown blotches on their inner surfaces; narrow lip, yellow at the base, with blotches of chestnut-brown. (G. C. 1873, 105.) O. c. Stevensii (Stevens') fl. white, heavily barred with light brown, large; lip with a clear yellow disk. A grand form. (W. O. A. iii. 127.) O. c. Trianae (Triana's).* fl. white, flushed, especially on the upper half of the dorsal sepals, with rose, the rosy portion being spotted with carmine, the dorsal sepal bearing a single large rosy spot; 2 1/2in. across, crowded in a dense spike; the lip is large, rounded, and two-lobed at the apex, white, freely spotted with coppery red. Columbia, 1868. A very beautiful variety. (B. M. 5691.) O. c. Veitchianum (Veitch's).* fl., sepals and petals white, with a zone of mauve and some brown blotches, broad. 1884. A fine form. O. c. Warneri (Warner's).* fl., sepals white, stained with rose, and spotted with purplish-brown; petals very broad, toothed at the edges, pure white; lip large, white, stained at the base with rich yellow. Columbia, 1869. A splendid form.

O. c. xanthoglossum (yellow-lipped). A variety with a yellow lip, having a few lines and a large lobed blotch of brown. 1883.

Other varieties of crispum are: aureum, Ballantinei, Cooksoni (W. O. A. iii. 118), elegantissimum, Reginae, roseum (F. M. n. s. 269), Roths-childianum, Sanderianum, sulphureum, and virginale.

O. cristatum (crested).* fl., sepals and petals creamy-yellow, varying in intensity in the different forms, banded or spotted with very dark brown or purple, and about 2in. in diameter; lip whitish, spotted with dingy brownish-purple, with a radiating white crest. Pseudo-bulbs somewhat oval, of a light shining green, bearing very narrow leaves of the same hue. Peru. A very desirable species, although not so showy as many others. (I. H. 1870,21). O. c. Argus (Argus). fl. bright yellow, with purplish speckles and freckles; lip and column white, with purplish markings. (I. H. ser. ii. 21.) O. c. canaria (canary-coloured). fl., sepals and petals bright clear yellow, each with a single purplish blotch.

O. c. cristatellum (slightly-crested). fl. light yellow, with a few sepia-brown spots; lip short, narrow, nearly oblong-pandurate, apiculate, undulate, anterior part sepia-brown; the front side of column has three violet spots on its base, and some brown lines. Winter. 1878. (W. O. A. 66.) O. c. Dayanum (Day's). A variety with a rhomboid, apiculate, serrate lip, the crests on its base crossing one another.

O crocidipterum (saffron-winged). fl. deliciously scented like Hawthorn; sepals and petals pale yellow, spotted with brown, from 2in. to 3in. across; lip having a bilobed, white crest, around which is a blotch of clear lemon-yellow; spikes from 1ft. to 1 1/2ft. long, many-flowered. August and September. Pseudo-bulbs compressed and conical, two-leaved. Columbia, 1870. (R. X. O. ii. 192.) O. Dormanianum (Dorman's).* fl. whitish, with numerous dark spots, and resembling those of O. crocidipterum; base of the lip yellow, sometimes with a few red stripes; tip of the lip with a large blotch. l. very narrow, and short. Pseudo-bulbs elliptical, blunt, two-edged, grooved and wrinkled. 1884. O. Edwardi (Edward Klaboch's). dagger fl. mauve-coloured, with a light purple hue; lip with an ochre-coloured callus; inflorescence many-flowered. Ecuador, 1878. (B. M. 6771.) O. elegans (elegant).* fl., sepals and petals faint yellowish, with narrow, brown blotches; lip yellowish, with the apical part white, having two long, serrate calli, and two small, acuminate, extrorse, adventitious ones marked with reddish spots. Ecuador, 1879. A natural hybrid, much resembling O. cirrhosum. (Gn. xxiv. 459; W. O. A. iii. 3.) O. Galeottianum (Galeotti's). fl. white; petals transversely barred with brown at the base; lip with a few streaks of yellow near the base; raceme few-flowered. Mexico, 1870. Allied to O. nebulosum, and very rare in cultivation.

O. gloriosum (glorious). A synonym of O. odoratum.

O. grande (magnificent).* fl. from 4in. to 7in. in diameter; sepals and petals rich glossy orange-yellow, the basal half being transversely banded and blotched with bright chestnut-brown; lip creamy-white, more or less freckled with brown; scapes stout, erect, from four to nine-flowered. Autumn and winter. l. lanceolate, broad, 6in. to 9in. long, dark green. Pseudo-bulbs glaucous, thick, slightly angular, two-leaved. Guatemala, 1839. This is one of the most beautiful, the largest the best known, and the easiest grown of