OF THE ge:ntis lipabts. 245 



usually easily, therefrom by its longer and more slender column 

 not embraced by tbe lip. To it the authors of the * Genera 

 Plantarum' have added EphippiantJms. This seems, however, 

 to be distinct botli in the habit and form of the lip. It is a mono- 

 typic genus found in the island of Sachalin, and is referred to 

 the neighbourhood of Malaocis by Prof. Keichenbach. Gasfro- 

 glottis, Blume, Bijdr. p. 397, is an unknown plant which, as the 

 authors of the ' G-enera Plaiitarum' suggest, may be a species of 

 this genus. Blatystylis was made by Blume as a section of 

 Malaxis^ and included two species, P. decurrens and P. atro- 

 purpurea. Lindley raised the section to the rank of a genus, but 

 Bentham and Hooker (Greu. Plant, vol. iii. p. 496) refer it to Zz- 

 ^fifmon the strength of a plant collected by Lobb in Java, which 

 has been identified by Prof. Eeichenbach as P. atropurpurea. I 

 have not seen the type of this species ; but the description, so far 

 as it goes, tallies very fairly with Lobb's plant, which is certainly 



a Liparis^ and a very different plant from the P, decurrens, and 

 of which there is a specimen in the herbarium of the Natural- 

 History Museum labelled by Blume Apatales purpurascens, a 

 name I cannot find published anywhere. P. decurrens is a very 

 peculiar plant, differing from all other species of the genus in 

 possessing a short thick column with four wings, two on each side. 

 A specimen in the above-mentioned lierbarium, exactly similar 

 to Blume's figure (Bijdr. t. 54) is labelled by Blume himself 

 Platystylis alata, a name which is, as far as I can find out, un-- 

 published. This plant, standing alone, would certainly con- 

 stitute a distinct genus, but L, aurita, Ridl., and i. 7'esupi- 

 nnta, mihi, form connecting links between the two genera. The 

 former of these two species possesses the rudiments of the 

 second pair of column-wings in the form of two small ears, one 

 on either side of the column, in addition to the ordinary wings. 

 The flowers, too, in both are resupinate, one of the chief cha- 

 racters in the genus Platystylis, I therefore think it will be 

 preferable to regard the genus as a section only of Liparis. 



The species of this genus are usually small 2>lants with incon- 

 spicuous flowers, occurring terrestrially in damp spots in bogs or 

 woods, or among rocks, or epiphytically upon trees. The truly epi- 

 phytic species belong to the section CoEiiFOLLa;, with distinct stout 

 pseudobulbs and thick or leathery leaves. These are confined 

 to the tropics of the Old World. Many of the soft-leaved species, 

 especially those with creeping stems, grow upon moss or rotten 



LDTN. JOUBIT, — BOTANY, VOL. XXH, X 



