being in fact originally " upright,*' and the change of pos- 

 ture merely the consequence of a subsequent twisting either 

 in the pedicle or in the germ en which supports it. Hence 

 the labellum from a back petal becomes a front one. 



Satyrium is however an exception, for the middle front 

 petal, designated by Swartz, as the labellum, has been found 

 by Mr. Brown not to be one; the casque at the back of the 

 flower being the true labellum, a part which is always de- 

 termined by its position in relation to the stamens and pla- 

 centa of the germen, by being the middlemost of the 3 inner 

 petals, and by facing the middlemost of the 3 outer. 



The genus (consisting of about 12 or 13 known species 

 from the Cape of Good Hope, of which the present and 

 another are all that have been seen in our gardens), accord- 

 ing to Mr. Brown, has a ringent corolla with 5 front petals 

 connate at the base ; a vaulted two-spurred or two-pouched 

 labellum situated at the back of the flower ; an adnate sub- 

 terminal permanent reversed anther, pollen-masses (of angu- 

 lar lobules held together by an elastic substance) affixed 

 at the base, and a two-lipped stigma. 



The flowers in all the spontaneous specimens we have 

 seen, have changed to a blackish purple hue in drying, and 

 if not remembered in the fresh state would pass for the re- 

 presentatives of a purple inflorescence in the live subjects. 

 To this we impute Thunberg's describing the flower of the 

 species as purple; he always describing from a dried sample 

 whenever he treats of Cape plants. We missed the oppor- 

 » tunity of examining the blossom while alive. 



The plant published by Messrs. Loddiges for Satyrium 

 cucullatum in the Botanical Cabinet, is a very distinct spe- 

 cies. 



