OF THE GElSirs LIPAEIS, 251 



provable that it was formed by the amalgamation of the two calli. 

 L. disticTiay LindL, is peculiar in having a patch of irregular 

 warty calli at the base of the lip. 



In many of the calliferous species the insect is directed to the 

 callus by the recurved edges of the claw ; but in L. Bheedii, LindL, 

 there are two guiding ridges, apparently formed by the pinching- 

 up of the lamina which run from the base of the lip, flanking the 

 calli, till they are gradually merged in the lamina, 



p 



In the two last series the point of attraction lies at the base of 

 the lip close to the column, while the pollinia are situate in the 

 first case over the middle of the flat lamina, and in the second over 

 the highest point of the lip, that is, where the lamina joins the 

 unguis and forms an angle with it ; so that if the insect receives 

 the pollinia as it leaves the flower, as is usually the case, they 

 would in all probability be attached to its back. In the first 

 series, however (the L. longipes section), and in the case oiL.au- 

 rita^ EidL, the point of attraction is not at the base of the lip but 

 at its highest point, i. e. in the former at the top of the curve 

 formed by the lip, and in the latter at the junction of lamina 

 and unguis. The latter has been alluded to under the general 

 description of the lip ; but I will proceed to give further details. 

 The veins which arise from the base of the lip run straight up 

 the claw till they reach the lamina, where they become sigmoid, 

 each forming a semicircle in their course, the ends of the semi- 

 circles being so closely approximated as almost to meet, especi- 

 ally at the upper end. This forms a horseshoe-shaped ridge with 

 a distinct depression in the centre at the highest point of the 

 lamina. The anther overhangs this ridge, so that in this plant, as 

 well as in the i. lo^gipes section, the head of the fertilizer is 

 naturally exactly under it, and in all probability the pollinia 

 would be attached to its head. 



Divisions. — The genus is best divided up into Coriifoli^, the 

 hard-leaved epiphytic section, and Mollifolt^ with soft leaves. 

 The names, which originated with Professor Eeichenbach, are 

 preferable to Lindley's Liparis vera and CesticMs^ the latter a 

 name invented by Thenars for some of the hard-leaved Mascarene 



species. 



The MoLLTFOLi-a: have frequently no pseudobulbs, but a 



straight, longer or shorter stem covered with sheathing-leaves, 



often whitish and membranous. The leaves are thin and plicate, 



often more than two in number, not rarely petiolate and oval, or 



