6 DR. H. F. HANCE ON THE RADIX GALANGZE MINORIS. 
truncate, and frequently bifid at 
apex. Racemes compound *. Flow- 
ers with an oblong concave bractlet 
at their base. Labellum “yel- 
lowish, minutely punctated with dull 
red, and with veins of a deep dull 
red colour? (Thw.)l, its veins 
thickish. 
The fruits of both species, when known, may afford other marks 
of distinction. 
A description of the Lesser Galangal plant, for which I pro- 
pose the name of Alpinia officinarum, drawn up very carefully 
from living specimens, may fitly bring these notes to a close. 
ALPINIA OFFICINARUM, n. sp. Rhizomatibus longe repentibus atque 
intertextis cylindraceis 6-9 lineas circiter diametro rufo-brunneis gla- 
berrimis squamis magnis pallidioribus fibrosis demum secedentibus 
annulosque irregulares sinuosos albidos relinquentibus copiose in- 
struetis, caulibus 23-33-pedalibus, foliis bifariis longe vaginantibus 
coriaceis glaberrimis nitidis anguste lanceolatis basi angustatis sed 
non petiolatis exquisite attenuatis 9-14 poll. longis medio 10-12 lin. 
latis ligula magna (9-15 lin. longa) oblonga scariosa erecta basi de- 
currente vaginas marginante apice acutiuscula auctis, racemo termi- 
nali simplici erecto densifloro brevi (plerumque haud 4-pollicari) 
foliis superato, rachi tenuiter tomentella, bracteis $ spathaceis invo- 
* So described by Roxburgh, and so I find them in all Dr. Thwaites's spe- 
cimens; but represented as simple in Wight's plate (Ic. Pl. Ind. Or. vi. 2028), 
and also apparently by Roscoe, and in the * Botanical Register.’ 
t Deseribed by Roxburgh as * solitary, boat-shaped, white, 1-flowered," and 
shown in the Bot. Reg. plate, and also (so far as I can make out from the 
sketch) in that in Roscoe, but omitted in Wight’s figure. Quite conspicuous in 
all Dr. Thwaites's specimens. 
t Roxburgh describes the labellum as “deeply coloured with dark purple 
veins on a yellow ground." The Bot. Reg. plate represents it as crimson in the 
centre, with a broad yellow border, into which veins from the centre run, though 
not very conspicuously ; whilst my copy of Roscoe’s figure gives an oblong yel- 
low centre dotted with crimson, and a broader margin striated with red and 
yellow, the latter colour slightly predominating. Considering the variation in 
colour of the flowers of Canna, and the differences of shade and marking in 
the labella of many cultivated epiphytes of the allied order Orchidacee, it is 
perhaps unsafe to attach any considerable weight to a character of this kind. 
§ Though these exist equally in A. calcarata, it is curious that Roxburgh 
makes no allusion to them ; he would have called the two an involucre. There is 
likewise no indication of them in the figures of the * Botanical Register, Roscoe, 
or Wight. 
