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Restrepia (Named in honour of Joseph E)

(named in honour of Joseph E. Restrep, a naturalist who travelled in South America). ORD. Orchideae. A genus of stove Orchids, with tufted stems, or having simple, creeping branches. About a score species have been described, natives of tropical America, from Brazil as far as Mexico. The genus is very closely related to Pleurothallis, but is distinguished by having four pollen masses; the habit is very similar, but the peduncles appear to be constantly one-flowered, and the flowers are often, but not always, larger. The under-mentioned species are those best known to gardeners. For culture, see Pleurothallis.

R. antennifera (antennae-bearing). fl. yellow, dotted with red or purple; lip linear, retuse, scabrous, trinerved, bearing tendrils close to the base. l. ovate, acute, shorter than the stems, occasionally rich purple on the under side; sheaths falcate, sometimes speckled with purple. Venezuela, &c., 1869. (B. M. 6288.) SYN. R. maculata.

R. Dayana (Day's). fl., upper sepals and petals violet-brown, filiform, clavate; lower sepals connate into a broad, bifid piece, which is yellowish and brown; lip yellow, mottled with purple, ligulate. l. stout, roundish-acute, nearly heart-shaped at the base. Costa Rica, 1875. " A lovely little gem," of tufted growth.

R. elegans (elegant). fl. chietly yellow, spotted with purple, much smaller than those of R. antennifera; lip linear, retuse, hollowed out and dilated at base, with a tooth on each side. l. oval, twice the length of the stems; sheaths straight. Caraccas, 1872. (B. M. 5966; F. d. S. 743.) R. Falkenbergii (Falkenberg's). fl. yellow, with some white and purple marks. l. large, bluish-purple beneath; sheaths one-coloured, without blotches. New Grenada, 1880.

R. Lansbergii (Lansberg's). fl., upper sepals and petals crimson; front sepals white, with crimson dots; lip yellow, with purple blotches, unctuous, linear, truncate, scabrous, excavated and broader at the base. l. oval, equalling the stems; sheaths straight, closely imbricated. Venezuela, Guatemala, &c., 1861. This resembles small specimens of R. antennifera. (R. X. O. i., p. 170, t. 60.) R. maoulata (spotted). A synonym of R. antennifera.

R. prorepens (forward-creeping). fl. yellow, solitary, on a long, capillary peduncle, and nodding, bending the two straight, linear sepals forward, and having both widely clasping, the inferior connate, boat-shaped, much narrower towards the top; lip very small, scarcely equalling the column, pandurate, sub-acute, with a small angle before each base, and a lamella in each middle side. l. very small, narrow, fleshy, emarginate at apex, with a small apiculus between. Rhizomes creeping, in large masses. Costa Rica, 1877. (R. X. O. iv. 11-17.) R. Reichenbachiana (Reichenbach's). fl. canary-yellow, on filiform peduncles, nearly 4in. long and cruciform, the tips of the inferior, connate sepals dark purple; these and the petals having also a dark purple line at the base, and the upper sepal two such lines. l. spathulate-oblong, obovate, minutely tridentate at the apex, about 2in. high. Costa Rica, 1875. Habit densely tufted. (R. X. O. ii. 5-10.) R. xanthophthalma (yellowed-eyed). " A pretty species, with yellow-purple-blotched flowers." Guatemala and Venezuela. (B. M. 5257, under name of R. Lansbergii.)