Ornithocephalus
(from ornis, ornithos, a bird, and kephale, a head; in reference to the form of the column and anther). ORD. Orchideae. A genus comprising about a score species of stove epiphytal orchids, only one of which is probably in cultivation, natives of tropical America, from Brazil to Mexico. Flowers frequently small, in scattered racemes; sepals almost equal, free, spreading; petals similar; lip continuous with the base of the short column, the lateral lobes thick and rather broad; peduncles axillary, simple. Leaves fleshy or coriaceous, oblong or linear. The genus is remarkable for the very long, slender rostellum, to which the stalk of the pollen-masses is attached by means of its terminal, glandular disk. This long rostellum, on a side view, is very like a bird's bill; hence the name of the genus. These curious little orchids thrive in a warm, moist house, attached to blocks of teak, &c., and suspended near the glass. In hot, dry weather, they will require frequently plunging into water of the same temperature as the house in which they are growing.
O. grandiflorus (large-flowered). fl. yellow; inflorescence many-flowered. l. large, oblong, blunt, acute or obtuse. A fine species.