Sepala patentia, subæqualia. Petala sepalis æqualia vel angustiora, rarius latiora, patentia vel reflexa. Labellum cum marginibus columnæ omnino vel parte connatum, limbo integro vel diviso, disco sæpius calloso, costato vel tuberculato; nunc in calcar productum ovario accretum et cuniculum formans. Columna elongata; clinandrio marginato, sæpe fimbriato. Anthera carnosa, 2-4 locularis. Pollinia 4, caudiculis totidem replicatis annexa.-Herbæ (Americana) epiphyta, caule nunc apice vel basi pseudobulboso, nunc elongato apice folioso. Folia carnosa, rarissime venis elevatis striata. Flores spicati, racemosi, corymbosi vel paniculati, terminales vel laterales. Lindl.

Specific Name and Character.

EPIDENDRUM densiflorum; caule elongato tereti folioso, foliis ellipticis coriaceis acutis, pedunculo terminali ramoso, floribus densissime spicatis, petalis anguste spathulatis, labello orbiculari trilobo, lobo medio brevissimo bilobo laciniis ovatis acutis patentissimis.

A very fine new EPIDENDRUM, native of Mexico, whence it was sent by Mr. PARKINSON to the Woburn collection, where it blossomed in great perfection in September, 1839. Its elongated, rounded stems, its very long, branched peduncle, densely spiked flowers, narrow petals, and peculiar shape of the labellum, will readily distinguish this from every species of the Genus hitherto described.

DESCR.

DESCR. Stem a foot and more high, sending out fleshy, vermicular roots from near the base, about as thick as one's finger, terete, bearing several alternate, coriaceous, oblongo-elliptical, rather acute leaves, from four to nearly six inches long. This stem bears at its apex a long, branched peduncle, distinctly furrowed, the branches (except the terminal one) deflexed, all of them clothed with dense, spiked flowers of a greenish-brown colour; the lip and column alone being almost white. Perianth spreading. Sepals oblongo-obovate, rather obtuse. Petals rather shorter than the sepals, very narrow, spathulate. Lip with its lower part united to the clavato-cylindrical column, the upper part projecting beyond the column, large, orbicular, three-lobed, the middle lobe very short, and again twolobed, the lobes or segments ovate, acute, spreading: at the base are two oval tubercles immediately beneath the apex of the column.

Fig. 1. Portion of a Flower. 2. Pollen-masses :-magnified.

Capitulum 5-florum. Involucrum cylindricum squamis 5-6 acutis acuminatisve subæqualibus. Receptaculum nudum. Achanium striato-nervosum angulatumve elongatum. Pappus paleis 1-serialibus nunc in iisdem aut sæpius in diversis individuis omnibus scariosis planis parvis, nunc aliis scariosis, aliis (pler. alternis) in aristas 1-5 rigidis margine scabras abeuntibus, nunc omnibus (pler. 520) in aristas mutatis. DC.

Specific Character and Synonyms.

STEVIA breviaristata; glabriuscula, foliis ovatis seu ovatolanceolatis trinerviis grosse obtuse serratis in petiolum attenuatis, corymbis dense capitatis, involucro pubescenti-viscoso, pappi aristis tribus quarum duabus subulatis corollæ tubo 4-plo brevioribus tertia minutissima. STEVIA breviaristata. Hook. et Arn. Contrib. towards a Flora of S. Am. in Hook. Comp. to Bot. Mag. v. 1. p. 238.

This very pretty STEVIA is an inhabitant of Tucuman in South America, where it was found among other rarities by Mr. TWEEDIE, and whence specimens and seeds were sent in 1836.

So named by CAVANILLES in memory of PIERRE JACQUES ESTEVE, a Spanish Physician of the sixteenth century, who wrote a "Dictionary of the Plants of the Kingdom of Valentia."