Otochilus
(from ous, otos, an ear, and cheilos, a lip; referring to the small, ear-like appendages at the base of the lip). SYN. Tetrapeltis. ORD Orchideae. A genus containing three or four species of stove, epiphytal orchids, natives of the Himalayas and Burmah. Flowers more or less conspicuous than in Coelogyne, loosely racemose; sepals and petals almost equal, free, narrow, spreading; lip sessile at base of column, saccate at base. Pseudo-bulbs proliferous, two-leaved, continuously produced one above the other, each successive one being emitted just below the apex of the old one, and there throwing out a few fibrous roots; rhizome none. The two species mentioned below require an intermediate house, and an abundant supply of moisture when growing. Pot the plants in peat fibre, pieces of charcoal, and sphagnum. O. fragrans (fragrant). fl. white, in erect racemes, 6in. long; sepals linear-lanceolate; petals linear; lateral lobes of lip slightly acute, middle one ovate-lanceolate. June. l. shortly petiolate, oblong-lanceolate, 6in. to 8in. long, plicate. Stem ascendent, short, scaly, terete. Nepaul, 1836. SYN. Tetrapeltis fragrans.
O. fusca (brownish). fl. sweetly scented, disposed in dense, many-flowered, nodding racemes; sepals and petals obtuse; lip golden, tinged with rose; ovary, bracts, column (and rachis) fuscous. August. l. linear-lanceolate. Pseudo-bulbs 6in. to 8in. long, 1in. thick. h. 9in. Nepaul, 1840. (B. M. 3921.)