A Monograph of Odontoglossum. J. Bateman
countries, but it is in these that the limits of variation between the different forms are most distinctly defined; in these, too, the great principle of unity in diversity is most conspicuous – the genera holding aloof from each other, and even the species keeping themselves distinct, although the Orchid mark is unmistakeably stamped upon all alike. Mr. Gould has remarked, in his great work on the "Trochilidæ," that the Darwinian theory derives no support from them, and the same may be safely affirmed of Orchids, which – we are now speaking of America – are the humming-birds' constant associates. Neither, while we contemplate the marvellous and inexhaustible variety of form by which the order is distinguished above all its fellows, can any plead that this result is due to its ancient lineage, nor yet to the vast periods through which endless transformations are assumed to have been continually taking place, because Orchids – according to geologic reckoning – are but a thing of yesterday, and have never been found in a fossil state. Yet their constant companions the Ferns, trace back their pedigree to the earliest vegetation of the primeval world! To the believer, however, the problem is not hard to solve. Ferns and other flowerless plants came early in the Divine programme, because the coal, into which they were to be ultimately converted, had need to be long accumulating for the future comfort and civilization of our race; while the genesis of Orchids was postponed until the time drew near when Man, who was to be soothed by the gentle influence of their beauty, or charmed by the marvellous variety of their structure, was about to appear upon the scene. There are multitudes who could bear witness how amply, in their own experience, this gracious purpose has been fulfilled; while the writer – in whose breast a love of Orchids prevailed from his youth up – can only exclaim with the Psalmist, "Thou, Oh Lord, hast made me glad through Thy works, and I will rejoice in giving thanks for the operation of Thy hand."
Knypersley Hall, April 24th, 1874.
Plate I.
ODONTOGLOSSUM NEBULOSUM, Lindley
O. (Leucoglossum, Lindl.) pseudobulbis ovatis compressis 2-3-phyllis, foliis oblongis acutis basi conduplicatis pedunculo radicali erecto (apice) nutante 3-7-floro brevioribus, bracteis scariosis amplexicaulibus ovario duplo brevioribus, sepalis petalisque latioribus membranaceis oblongis undulatis apiculis recurvis, labelli ungue cucullato carnoso, lamellis duabus erectis dentibusque totidem anticis, limbo ovato acuto dentato subpubescente, columnâ apterâ elongatâ. (Lindl. quibusdam mutatis.)
Odontoglossum nebulosum, Lindl. Fol. Orch.
Odontoglossum maxillare, Lemaire (nec Lindley), Illustration Horticole (1859), t. 200.
Habitat in Mexico, prope Oaxaca (Karwinski, Galeotti, etc.), circiter 5000 ft.
Pseudobulbs 2 to 3 inches long, smooth, ovate, somewhat compressed, 2- or 3-leaved. Leaves 2 or 3 at the apex of the pseudobulbs, oblong, acute, shorter than the Scape, which, rising from the base of the pseudobulbs, is bent down at its upper extremity by the weight of from 3 to 7 large and handsome Flowers. Bracts only half the length of the ovary, embracing the flower-stem. Sepals 1½ inches long. Petals much wider than the sepals, and like them of an oblong form, waved at the margin, and a little recurved at the end, which is sharply pointed; both sepals and petals are of clear membranous white, clouded (as the name implies) by a profusion of spots or blotches of a reddish-brown colour, which extend to nearly half their length. Lip of the same texture and colour as the sepals, only that the brown blotches are broader, and that there is a patch of yellow on the claw; its upper portion is of an ovate form, acute, with the margins very much torn; its fleshy dish is hooded, or gathered into 2 erect plates, with a pair of teeth attached in front. Column very long, destitute of wings.
It was at Munich, in the year 1835, that I first became acquainted with this fine Odontoglossum having, through the kindness of Professor Von Martius, been allowed to examine the rich collection of dried specimens that Baron Karwinski had then recently brought home with him from Mexico. Two years afterwards living plants were sent to me from Oaxaca, which happening to arrive in the midst of that remarkably severe winter 1837-38, I naturally expected would have been destroyed on their way; so far, however, from this being the case, they appeared to have sustained little or no injury from the cold, and on being placed in a stove they soon began to push both roots and leaves. All went well so long as the temperature of the house did not exceed 70°, but when the winter had passed away and they had to face the intense heat at which the Orchid-houses of that period were ordinarily maintained, they then quickly lost their vigour and before a twelvemonth had passed were all gone, victims – like a multitude of other invaluable plants – to our then ignorance of the conditions under which alone the Orchids of cool countries could be expected to thrive!
I am not aware that this plant ever flowered in this country until within the last year or two, certainly no figure of it has ever been published in any English botanical periodical; I have, however, found in a French work (the Illustration Horticole), under the name of O. maxillare, what is obviously the same as the plant represented in the Plate. I should myself have probably fallen into the same mistake as Professor Lemaire, had I not enjoyed the opportunity – which he unfortunately had not – of examining the original specimens in Dr. Lindley's herbarium, and from which that able botanist drew up his description (in the Folia Orchidacea) of the two species. O. maxillare, of which Dr. Lindley only examined a single flower – though he made a most careful drawing – is shown by a glance at the latter, to be a totally different thing; it has moreover, I fear, long since disappeared from our collections. In Dr. Lindley's description the flower-scape is said to be terminal, which in nature it never is, although from the way in which Karwinski's wild specimen was glued together, it certainly presents that appearance in the herbarium. The column moreover, and the base of the sepals and petals, are said to be pubescent, though nothing of the kind is visible to the naked eye when the flowers are fresh. With a powerful magnifying glass pubescence may certainly be seen.
Odontoglossum nebulosum flowers at different seasons of the year, always sending up its scape at the same time as the young growth. It is of the easiest culture.3 The figure was derived from a beautiful specimen that flowered last November in the collection of J. Day, Esq., of Tottenham, who grows this and many other Odontoglossa in high perfection.
Dissections. – 1. Lip, seen in front; 2. Ditto, seen sideways: both magnified.
Plate II.
ODONTOGLOSSUM URO-SKINNERI, Lindl
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.
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
As most of the