[125]

Cryptopodium (bought as) April 1867.

Flower-stem 4ft: 2 inches 2 high - with large yellowish bracts spotted with dingy red. With many minute imperfect flowers, green, open with corrugated mass on little Labellum perhaps attractive to insects, & many small bracts like Feather-Hyacinth

Perfect flower of moderate size - with lower part of peduncle bright red. Sepals like the bracts - 2 upper petals bright yellow. Labellum bright yellow spotted with red, & two large side lobes, (which serve as guide) dark red. Another hinged on upright point as in Catasetum. Apparently both sexes quite perfect.

The lower flower sub-peduncle hardly only imperfect flowers; the higher ones have on lower part a few perfect but all terminals with imperfect flowers, which

[125v]

May 13th All a blunder these little imperfect flowers are only buds & all become developed: odd that they shd not be closed. At end, however, of every sub-branch of peduncle, there are 3 or 4 coloured small bracts, with rudimentary buds or group of scales, which gives a finish to each branch; but are not required to make the whole more conspicuous.

[126]

vary in size & towards apex become excessively minute & imperfect & bud-like. A little beneath upper part of central flower stem there are some separate perfect flowers.

Each imperfect flower consists of 3 sepals faintly coloured & spotted like bracts - 2 upper green, instead of bright yellow petals. The labellum is whitish, instead of yellow & red; its margin is slightly fringed & central white mamillated mass is well filled & fills stigmas & marks its dry surface. The anthers apparently never open & the content, which consists of flocculant innumerable cells, representing pollen-grains, are not connected with rostellum or disc which is not viscid. The Bracteæ are more showy & imperfect than these imperfect flowers.