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Trichocentrum (From thrix trichos a hair)

(from thrix, trichos, a hair, and kentron, a spur; alluding to the long, thin spur of the labellum). ORD. Orchideae. A genus including about fourteen species of stove, epiphytal Orchids, natives of tropical America. Flowers mediocre or rather large; sepals and petals sub-equal, free, spreading; lip at base connate with the column, forming a pitcher, produced into a descending spur, above the pitcher erect, biauriculate or naked; lateral lobes scarcely dilated, nearly erect; column short, thick; pollen masses two, ovoid; scapes short, many-sheathed, one or rarely two-flowered. Leaves coriaceous. Stems very short, one-leaved, at length thickened into a small, fleshy pseudo-bulb. The species thrive best in an intermediate temperature, in a moist, shady position, attached to blocks of soft wood or pieces of tree-fern stem. Water must be given all the year round, but care must be taken to prevent the roots being in contact with stagnant moisture. Propagation may be effected by division.

T. albo-purpureum (white-and-purple).* fl. large, freely produced; sepals and petals bright cinnamon brown outside, tawny-yellow inside; lip white, with two large, purple spots near the base, the disk veined with rosy-purple, passing to yellow, and having a crest of four rosy-purple keels. l. sessile, oblong, acute, shining green, 4in. to 6in. long. Brazil, 1866. (B. M. 5688; G. C. 1866, 219; W. O. A. 204.) T. capistratum (haltered). fl. one to a peduncle; sepals and petals yellow; lip white, dotted and blotched with purple, remarkable for having its base extended into five short spurs. l. oblong-lanceolate, purplish. Costa Rica, 1871.

T. cornucopiae (cornucopia). A small plant, with yellowish-white flowers, having more botanical than horticultural interest. Rio Negro (?), 1866. (Ref. B. 77; R. X. O. 177.) T. fuscum (fuscous). fl. on short peduncles; sepals and petals purplish-green, spreading; lip much longer than the petals, cuneate, waved, with a slender spur at base, two-lobed at apex, lower down blotched with rose-colour and spotted with red. l. oblong, acute, spreading, somewhat twisted, purplish-green, minutely dotted. Mexico, 1841. (B. M. 3969; B. R. 1951.) T. f. Krameri (Kramer's). A large-flowered variety, with a longer and thinner spur than in the type. Brazil, 1885.

T. Hoegii (Hoege's). fl. very large, borne on a zigzag peduncle; sepals and petals greenish-yellow, with a purple middle area; lip white, with brilliant purple lines and blotches, and two blunt, yellow calli at the base, pandurate, undulated, notched at the tip; spur with a clavate, notched apex. l. robust, horny, cuneate-oblong, acute. Mexico, 1882. A small but distinct plant. T. ionophthalmum (violet-eyed). fl., upper sepal and petals very light yellowish-maroon-brown, with brown dots at top, unguiculate, blunt; lateral sepals wholly brown; lip whitish, with a large, violet blotch on each basilar angle, pandurate. l. broader and shorter than those of T. albo-purpureum (which this plant resembles). Amazons, 1876.

T. maculatum (spotted). fl. large; petals white, spotted with purple, oblong, obtuse; lip with a yellow crest, obovate, bilobed, very obtuse; spur very long. February. l. very thick, fleshy, linear-oblong, obtuse, spotted with red. Sierra Nevada, 1844.

T. orthoplectron (straight-spurred).* fl. large; sepals and petals light cinnamon-brown, tipped with yellow, cuneate-oblong; lip white, with a crimson-lake blotch on each side of the base, and five bars or semi-abortive keels of the same colour between the blotches, the disk in front of the crest being yellow; spur tapering to an acute point. October. Brazil. A curious and beautiful epiphyte. (W. O. A. 272.) T. Pfavii (Pfau's).* fl. in pairs on a raceme, as large as those of Oncidium Gardneri; sepals and petals half brown, half white, spathulate, obtuse; lip white, with a red blotch in the middle of its stalk, cuneate-flabellate, bilobed, crisped. Central America, 1881. (G. C. n. s., xvii. 117; I. H. ser. iii. 587; R. G. 1103.) T. P. zonale (zonal). fl., sepals and petals entirely brown at their base, or the brown broken up into blotches, obtuse or acute; lip having one large, purple blotch or two darker ones before its base. 1883. An interesting and variable form.

T. porphyrio (porphyry-like). fl. solitary, about 2in. in diameter; sepals and petals brown, unequally margined and tipped with yellow, cuneate-oblong, acute; lip rich magenta-purple, faintly margined with white towards the point and having a rectangular, sulphur-yellow blotch on the disk in front of the three purple lines of the crest. l. cuneate-oblong. South America, 1884. A very handsome species. (I. H. ser. iii. 508.) T. pulchrum (pretty). fl. yellow and white; sepals much spreading, oval-elliptic; lip erect, obovate, cuneate at base, emarginate at apex. July. l. two or three, thickened at base, oblong, obtuse or acute, sometimes mucronate. Peru.

T. purpureum (purple). fl., sepals and petals of a dull olive-green; lip purple, obovate-oblong, emarginate; spur thick, curved; scapes small, radical, one or two-flowered. Demerara.

T. tenuiflorum (slender-flowered). fl. dingy brown and white, small; sepals and petals narrow, the former acute, the latter obtuse; lip linear-obovate, with a pair of plates occupying the whole of the base. Bahia. T. tigrinum (tiger-striped).* fl. one or two to a peduncle; sepals and petals greenish-yellow, transversely barred and distinctly spotted with purplish-brown; lip pure white, 1 1/2in. long, nearly 2in. across the dilated apex, with a yellow crest on the disk, and on each side at the base a wedge-shaped blotch of purple. l. oblong, more or less dotted with deep red. Ecuador, 1869. A remarkably handsome and desirable species, producing its blossoms while in a very small state. (I. H. ser. iii. 282.) T. t. splendens (splendid). A fine variety, having the base of the large, obcordate lip of a rich purple colour. 1886.