The Florilegium

THE ORCHID HOUSE

The Orchid

Bateman’s Mexico and Guatemala and Lindley’s Register — the flowers that arrived in crates from the tropics and sent a century of collectors mad.

Zygopetalum — Zygopetalum mackayi, pl. 3402, from Curtis’s Botanical Magazine, after Walter Hood Fitch et al., 1835

1835

Zygopetalum

A Brazilian orchid, from the longest-running flower book in the world.

Zygopetalum mackayi
Stanhopea — The Orchidaceae of Mexico and Guatemala, after Augusta Withers and Sarah Drake, for James Bateman, 1837–1843

1837–1843

Stanhopea

An orchid that flowers downward, through the bottom of its own basket.

Stanhopea martiana
The Swan Orchid — The Orchidaceae of Mexico and Guatemala, after Augusta Withers and Sarah Drake, for James Bateman, 1837–1843

1837–1843

The Swan Orchid

The column arches like a swan’s neck — and the plant changes sex with the light.

Cycnoches egertonianum
The Goblin Orchid — The Orchidaceae of Mexico and Guatemala, after Augusta Withers and Sarah Drake, for James Bateman, 1837–1843

1837–1843

The Goblin Orchid

A flower twisted off its own axis — and it fires pollen at whatever touches it.

Mormodes maculata
The Clown Orchid — The Orchidaceae of Mexico and Guatemala, after Augusta Withers and Sarah Drake, for James Bateman, 1837–1843

1837–1843

The Clown Orchid

A figure in the middle of the flower with its arms up — everyone sees it.

Rossioglossum insleayi
The Bird-Beak Oncidium — The Orchidaceae of Mexico and Guatemala, after Augusta Withers and Sarah Drake, for James Bateman, 1837–1843

1837–1843

The Bird-Beak Oncidium

A spray of small pink flowers, and one of the very few orchids that smells of chocolate.

Oncidium ornithorhynchum
The Fragrant Encyclia — The Orchidaceae of Mexico and Guatemala, after Augusta Withers and Sarah Drake, for James Bateman, 1837–1843

1837–1843

The Fragrant Encyclia

Yellow-green and honey-scented, on a plate the size of a tabletop.

Encyclia incumbens
The Lady of the Night — Edwards’s Botanical Register, for John Lindley, Edwards’s Botanical Register, 1846

1846

The Lady of the Night

It opens white at dusk and perfumes an entire glasshouse by midnight.

Pl. 53Brassavola digbyana
The Mexican Lady’s Slipper — Edwards’s Botanical Register, for John Lindley, Edwards’s Botanical Register, 1846

1846

The Mexican Lady’s Slipper

The largest slipper orchid in the Americas, and one of the hardest to keep alive.

Pl. 58Cypripedium irapeanum
The Tulip Orchid — Edwards’s Botanical Register, for John Lindley, Edwards’s Botanical Register, 1844

1844

The Tulip Orchid

A cupped flower with a loose figure rocking inside it — the “cradle orchid.”

Pl. 63Anguloa clowesii
The Bucket Orchid — Edwards’s Botanical Register, for John Lindley, Edwards’s Botanical Register, 1836

1836

The Bucket Orchid

It fills a bucket with its own fluid and drops the bee in.

Pl. 1841Coryanthes macrantha
Acland’s Cattleya — Edwards’s Botanical Register, for John Lindley, Edwards’s Botanical Register, 1840

1840

Acland’s Cattleya

Olive-green barred with maroon, and a lip of shocking magenta.

Pl. 48Cattleya aclandiae
The Zygopetalum — Curtis’s Botanical Magazine, for Curtis’s Botanical Magazine, 1835

1835

The Zygopetalum

Green and chocolate-brown petals, a lip streaked violet, and a scent of hyacinth.

Zygopetalum maculatum