318 MR. HENRY RIDLEY ON ORCHIDEZ AND 
nectar, it sets it free by its weight or by slightly separating 
the lateral sepals with its feet, and the lip springs up suddenly 
(its flexible claw acting as a spring) and strikes the face of the ~ 
column, where it permanently remains, pressing the insect 
against the pollen masses, so that it cannot escape from the 
trap without withdrawing the pollen. As the lip remains then 
pressed against the column, it is impossible for a fly to get at 
the nectar any more; so that the first flower visited by a fly 
cannot be fertilized, but, by pollinating, the insect can fertilize 
the next cne visited. A somewhat similar arrangement occurs 
in the Marantacew, where the style is held back in the hooded 
staminode till the entry of the fertilizer sets it free, when it 
suddenly curves downwards, sweeping the pollen out of its 
chamber as it does so, and plastering it on the insect’s back. 
In P. javanica, Blame, a somewhat different arrangement 
occurs. Here the sepals and petals are all nearly equal in size, 
and all are orange with darker spots. There is no thickening 
or in-rolling of the lateral sepals, which, indeed, are divaricate 
at the apices, but they grasp the basal angles of the square lip 
with their basal inner edges, and, being deflexed, draw the lip 
down as in P. porphyrophylla, Ridl. A slight touch on the 
pale-coloured lip sets it free, and it springs up suddenly as 
before. 
PLocoGLorris PORPHYROPHYLLA, Ridl. in Trans. Linn. Soc., 
Ser. IT. (Bot.) iii. (1893) p. 368. 
Hab. Singapore: Kranji! Selitar! Toas! 
Johore: Batu Pahat! Tana Runto! Ulu Kahang. 
Pahang: Pekan! 
Perak: Scortechini. 
Kedah: From near the coast (native dealer) ! 
Common in many places in dry woods. The leaves are of a 
lovely purple colour beneath, and as they stand erect have a 
beautiful stained glass appearance by transmitted sunlight. I 
suppose the plant referred to P. acuminata, Blume, in ‘ Fl. Brit. 
Ind.,’ from “ Perak, 2-3,000 feet, King’s Collector,” is this plant. 
There is a good sketch of it in Scortechini’s drawings. A 
dealer gave me a plant from the Kedah Coast, in which leaves, 
bulbs, scape were all green, as were also the sepals. It 1s 
evidently specifically the same, but looked very different at first 
sight. 
