  ODONTOGLOSSUM URO-SKINNERI, Lindl. MR. SKINNER'S ODONTOGLOSSUM. O. (Leucoglossum, Lindl.) pseudobulbis ovato-oblongis ancipitibus compressis guttulatis 1-2-phyllis, foliis oblongis acuminatis scapo multifloro simplici vel subpaniculato multo brevioribus, bracteis membranaceis cymbiformibus acuminatis ovario 3-plo brevioribus, petalis sepalisque subÆqualibus late-ovatis acuminatis, labelli ungue bilamellato limbo cordato maculato acuminato undulato, columnÆ alis ovatis deflexis. Odontoglossum Uro-skinneri, Gardeners' Chronicle, vol. 1859, pp. 708, 724. Habitat in Guatemala, prope Santa Catarina de los Altos, 5-6000 ft., Skinner. DESCRIPTION Pseudobulbs 3 or 4 inches long by nearly as many wide, much flattened, and very sharp at the edges, always powdered with minute brown dots, which do not appear until the second year. Leaves oblong, broad, and stiff, acuminate at their extremities, much shorter than the scape. Scape generally simple, but sometimes slightly panicled, about a yard high, and bearing from 10 to 20 agreeably scented Flowers. Bracts of a delicate texture, boat-shaped, scarcely more than one-third the length of the ovary. Sepals and Petals nearly equal, broadly ovate, about an inch long, of a green colour, covered with rich reddish-brown spots. Lip broad and spreading, heart-shaped, acuminate, and turned inwards at the apex, its disk white, but covered with round blue spots, which cease at the foot of the isthmus (claw), where two upright and nearly parallel lamellÆ (plates) are stationed. Column furnished with ovate, decurved, round-headed wings. This is a robust and stately plant, nearly allied to O. Bictoniense to which at one time Dr. Lindley was disposed to refer it, but far larger and handsomer in all its parts. Its broad pseudobulbs which become covered in their second year with a multitude of small reddish dots, its wide sepals and petals, the spotting of its lip, and its general resemblance to Zygopetalum Mackaii will, however, sufficiently distinguish it. Being found at a higher elevation than O. Bictoniense, it requires to be kept more cool, and as it affects dark and wet banks in its native wilds, it is better to place it in a north house where it can be more readily protected from the sun. Treated in this way it grows luxuriantly and flowers abundantly at Knypersley, whence the specimen figured in the Plate was derived. Its flowering season seems to vary, for while with me it is now (May) coming into bloom, about London November is the more usual month. O. Uro-Skinneri was the latest discovery of my indefatigable friend Mr. Skinner (after whom it was named by Dr. Lindley), and who, though now settled in England, is as much devoted to his favourite tribe as when, while resident in Guatemala, he was wont to delight the Orchidists of Europe by the multitude of new and beautiful plants that he was constantly dispatching across the main. Dissection.—1. Side view of lip and column: magnified. Plate III Odontoglossum phalÆnopsis.
Odontoglossum phalÆnopsis. |
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