[5] Mr. Skinner has lately received from Guatemala some magnificent
specimens of _O. grande_, which are incorporated with _masses of Fern_
and other shade-loving plants. Cultivators might make a good practical
use of the well-known maxim "_noscitur a sociis_" in this case.
[6] 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.
[7] 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.
[8] 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.
End of Project Gutenberg's A Monograph of Odontoglossum, by James Bateman
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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