I have sinned
thus, and I know it. Therefore, let the reader seek an opportunity to
behold _O. macranthum_, and judge for himself. But it seems to me that
Nature gives us a hint. As though proudly conscious what a marvel it
will unfold, this superb flower often demands nine months to perfect
itself. Dr. Wallace told me of an instance in his collection where
eighteen months elapsed from the appearance of the spike until the
opening of the first bloom. But it lasts a time proportionate.
[Illustration: ONCIDIUM MACRANTHUM
Reduced to One Sixth]
Nature forestalled the dreams of aesthetic colourists when she designed
_Oncidium macranthum_. Thus, and not otherwise, would the thoughtful of
them arrange a "harmony" in gold and bronze; but Nature, with
characteristic indifference to the fancies of mankind, hid her
_chef-d'oeuvre_ in the wilds of Ecuador. Hardly less striking,
however, though perhaps less beautiful, are its sisters of the
"small-lipped" species--_Onc. serratum_, _O. superbiens_, and _O.
sculptum_. This last is rarely seen. As with others of its class, the
spike grows very long, twelve feet perhaps, if it were allowed to
stretch. The flowers are small comparatively, clear bronze-brown, highly
polished, so closely and daintily frilled round the edges that a fairy
goffering-iron could not give more regular effects, and outlined by a
narrow band of gold.
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