A Monograph of Odontoglossum

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I copy Sir Robert's description of the locality in which these plants were found, in the hope that some collector may be induced to visit so interesting a region: – "The Diothonea was met with on the high mountain-chain between the sixty-fifth and sixty-sixth meridian and the fourth parallel of latitude, at an elevation of 6-7000 feet above the sea-level. The summits of those elevations are thickly covered with two species of Lichen, the white colour of which conveys the supposition that the ground is covered with snow. The thermometer stood frequently in the morning at 57° F., which, connected with the snow-white Lichens, powerfully reminded us of a winter landscape. Indeed, the stunted trees, with grey tortuous branches, would have assisted to make the picture complete, if numerous Orchidaceæ, conjointly with green Mosses, had not clothed them. Indeed, it was the Orchidaceæ alone that gave the vegetation a tropical aspect… We discovered the Maxillaria near Mount Maravaca." —Lindl. Sert. Orch. sub t. xl.

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I allude of course to those remarkable works of Dr. Lindley, the Orchidearum Genera et Species and the Folia Orchidacea (the latter of which he was not destined to complete), with which the science of Orchidology may be said to have arisen, and which will continue its text-books for all time to come.

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It may be well, once for all, to state that in the case of species that have not been long imported, and which have therefore not had time to acquire their full strength, the number and arrangement of flowers in the figures is taken from native specimens where such are available. It sometimes happens that the "wild" standard is never reached in cultivation, but it is more frequently exceeded.