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Pleurothallis (From pleuron a side and thallo)

(from pleuron, a side, and thallo, to blossom; in allusion to the inflorescence). SYN. Humboldtia. Including Centranthera, Rhyncopera, and Specklinia. ORD. Orchideae. A vast genus (nearly 350 species have been described) of stove orchids, or variable habit, natives of the West Indies and tropical America. Flowers small, sometimes very small, in a few species mediocre or rather large, often secund, in bundle-flowered racemes; sepals erect, connivent or somewhat spreading; petals shorter or narrower; pollinia two; labellum usually articulated at the base of the column. Stems filiform, one-leaved, often sheathed. The species have scarcely any ornamental value, but are curious and interesting from a botanical point of view. A selection from those best known to cultivation is given below. They may be grown either in baskets or pans, suspended from the roof of a cool house, most of them thriving along with the Masdevallias. The small ones, such as P. Grobyi, are best fastened to little tufts of peat or to Fern stems. P. atropurpurea (dark purple). fl. dark purple, solitary; bud 1/2in. long; petals oblique, three-cusped; lip obtuse, sagittate, crested in the middle. l. oblong, narrowed at base, almost equalling the stem; sheaths ventricose. h. 6in. Jamaica, 1838. (B. M. 4164, under name of Masdevallia fenestrata.) P. aviceps (bird's-head). fl. green, with yellow petals and lip, resembling the beak of a bird. l. numerous, oblong-lanceolate. Brazil, 1871. A pretty little plant, of tufted habit.

P. Barberiana (Barber's). fl. few, on a slender peduncle, four or five times as long as the leaves; sepals light ochre, blotched with dark purple, aristate, free, ciliated; petals whitish, smaller, serrate; lip cuneate, oblong-clavate. l. very small, elliptical, acute, thick, keeled beneath. Tropical America, 1881. A small but pretty orchid.

P. bicarinata (two-keeled). fl. dull greenish-yellow, in a few-flowered raceme; sepals aristate, the upper one bifid and bicarinate; petals oblong, minutely serrulate; lip obovate, fleshy, cordate. l. oblong, 5in. long, 1 3/4in. broad; sheath on stem 1 3/4in. long. h. 6in. Brazil. (B. M. 4142.) P. bilamellata (two-ridged). fl. cinnabar-red, two or three at the base of a leaf, minute. Rhizome creeping, bearing numerous stems, each terminating in one cuneate-ligulate, very thick, fleshy leaf. Mexico, 1870. (Ref. B. 95.) P. fulgens (brilliant). fl. brilliant cinnabar-red, one to three on a peduncle 1/2in. long; petals washed with greenish-purple; lip of a paler cinnabar. l. spathulate-obovate, minutely tridentate at the apex. Stems very short. Costa Rica, 1875. This species is of densely tufted habit. P. Grobyi (Groby's). fl. yellow, streaked with crimson, small, about a dozen in a loose, zigzag raceme; sepals costate, acute, the upper one bidentate; petals membranous, acute; lip fleshy, oblong, obtuse. l. obovate, emarginate, petiolate, forming small, dark green tufts. h. 3in. Brazil, 1834. (B. M. 3682.) P. Lanceana (Lance's). fl. yellow, crimson at the base inside, in a pendulous spike; sepals linear-lanceolate, the upper one bidentate; petals setaceo-acuminate, fimbriate; lip unguiculate. l. fleshy, broadly oblong. h. 6in. Surinam, 1831. (L. B. C. 1767.) P. picta (painted). fl. yellow, striped with crimson, in a nearly straight raceme; sepals smaller than in P. Grobyi (which this species closely resembles). l. narrow-spathulate, longer than the peduncle, and overtopping the lowest flowers. Demerara, Surinam, &c. (B. R. 1825.) P. prolifera (proliferous). fl. deep purple; sepals slightly scabrous; petals pale, linear-lanceolate, serrated upwards; lip oval, fimbriate at base. h. 6in. Brazil, 1826. "The formation of leaves, in place of flowers, which gave rise to the specific name, occurs occasionally in many other species" (Lindley). (B. M. 3261; B. R. 1298; L. B. C. 1908.) P. Reymondii (Reymond's). fl., sepals orange, brown, and green, pubescent, oblong, the dorsal ones larger; petals two-lobed, one rounded, the other elongated; lip minute. l. coriaceous, linear-lanceolate, obtuse, acuminated, shorter than the stem. h. 6in. Venezuela, &c., 1863. (B. M. 5385.) P. saurocephala (lizard-headed). fl. yellowish-green, changing to light brown, closely dotted with purple inside, disposed in an erect, imbricated spike; dorsal sepal twice as broad as the upper ones. l. 4in. long, 2in. broad, coriaceous, broadly oblong, equalling the angular stem. Brazil, 1829. (B. M. 3030; B. R. 1968; L. B. C. 1571.) P. scapha (skiff). fl. yellowish-white, marked with purple lines, except the lower sepals, which are wholly dark brownish-purple; racemes lax, many-flowered. l. ovate, coriaceous. 1874. A fine species. (G. C. n. s., xv. 784.) P. spectrilinguis (tongue like). fl. hyaline, disposed in sub-corymbose racemes; sepals spotted with mauve-purple, aristate; lip dark olive-brown, with basilar, retrorse horns, and an elliptic, fringed blade. l. narrow-spathulate, about 1in. long. 1883 A small species. P. strupifolia (strap-leaved). fl. in racemes, 3in. to 4in. long with loose, funnel-shaped, spreading bracts; dorsal sepal, petals, and lip, white, spotted and striped with purple; front sepal all purple-speckled. l. resembling long straps, 1 1/2ft. long, sometimes broader and shorter. h. 1 1/2ft. Mexico, 1838. (B. M. 3897, under name of P. picta.)