Plate VIII. 



A. 



OBERONIA RUFILABRIS. 



O.rufitabrU; foliis stibfnleatis ncutis, spicfi sub-vorticillntfi complctS, bncteis ovatis 

 aristatis (Wilms <\\x\\\h longioribus, pclalis lincuri-lanccolntU acutis mtcgcrrimls 

 labcllo irilobo bimi (ubcrculato aciwIih longiorc: luciniis latcralibus sctoccis 

 intermedia oblmi^a bipartite lobis uctitis flivcrgcntibus. 



Although it i* not intended hi this work to make a practice of figuring miuulc plant* which 

 are interesting only for their curious structure, yet the extremely remarkable forms of some species 

 render them even more worthy of illustration than the more striking plants for which these plate* are 

 chiefly destined* Such a case is the present, where; a page b* occupied hy figures of three microscopic 

 Orchidaeerc, each of which is still more Strangely fashioned than the other, and all so different from 

 other plant* that one might almost douhl their even belonging to the vegetable world- If ihe 

 Brahmins hail been botanists, one might have fancied they took their doctrine of metempsychosis 

 from these productions; in the genera Obcronia and Dryinoda, I'ythagoras would have found 

 a living evidence of animal* transmuted into plants' 



The genus Oberonin consists principally of small fleshy-leaved epiphyte*, inhabiting the branches 

 of trees iti the wood* of India, ml having the most tiny of (lowers Fourteen species have been 

 described, of which one only, and that the least interesting (Obcronia iridifoliit) ha* been seen alive 

 in Europe. The resemblance* to insects ami other animal form* which have been perceived in the 

 Orchidaceous plants of Kuropc. and which have given rise to such names as Fly Orchis, Bee Orchil, 

 Alan Orchis, Butterfly Orchis, uud I,i/.unl Orchis, may be traced so plainly in the genu** Obcronia 

 in every species, that it alone would furnish a magazine of new ideas tor the grotesque pencil of a 

 German admirer of the wild and pnclcrnaturah 



The two species now figured were discovered in the Burmese empire, by Mr. Griffith, :» botanist 

 Of grout reputation, from whose indefatigable zeal and exertions the greatest discoveries may he 

 expected in the Flora of the British possession* in India, The plate* have been prepared from 

 sketches made hy Mr, (irifltth him*e)f on the spot, and since compared with dried specimens 



collected at the same time. 



Obcronia rufdahri* is an almost stemless plant, hanging down from the brunches on which it 

 grows, and to which it clings by its slender thread-like roots. The plowed* are arranged at the 

 lower part in whorls, but afterwards alternately along a slender simple axis, at the apex of which 

 tliey open first. Each dower is subtended hy a thin irauspurcnt oval bract, which is lengthened 

 at the point into a very long soft transparent bristle. The SEPALS an* three, ovule, acute, and light 

 green, slightly mottled with dull red ; they are of the name H*e» and rather longer than the petals ; 

 the latter are linear-lanceolate, and quite entire. The ladellum stands at the hack of the flower* 

 as they hang, is of a bright red colour, and firm fleshy consistence; at its base it has a large 

 granulated tubercle or goitre which prcstC* up against tho column : near the lwi*e on each side U n 

 slender setaccou* lobe ; the apex is split into two curved diverging lew. The column is verv short 

 cuncatc. with the anterior angles of the clinandrituu lobed. red, anil crystalline; then* is a distinct 

 ovate gland at the apex of the stigma, hut ii doc* not appear that the pollen-masses, which are four 

 in two pairs, ever attach themselves to it, 



