FLORA OF EASTERN TROPICAL AFRICA. 885 
PotystTacnya TayLorIaNA, sp.nov. Rhizomate repente; cauli- 
bus basi anguste pseudobulbosis et a foliorum delapsorum vaginis 
cinctis, superne teretibus, in bracteis longis lineari-lanceolatis 
subscariosis arcte inclusis, supra medium ramos breves floriferos 
emittentibus; floribus parvis longe pedicellatis ; sepalo dorsali 
oblongo obtuso quam lateralia angustiore his ovato-oblongis basi 
lata ad pedem columni adnatis mentum conicum formantibus ; 
petalis cuneato-spathulatis quam sepala brevioribus ; labello 
extremo pede a cardine affixo, basi brevi lineari pubescente, in 
laminam glabram late oblongam erectam mox recurvatam expanso, 
in apice retuso et margine valde crispato; columna unilineari 
alata, pede sesquilineari; anthera uniloculari, polliniis 2, adnatis. 
Hab. Between Zanzibar and Uyui: W. E. Taylor, 1886. 
The stout hard rhizome is about } inch in diameter, bearing 
numerous short thin roots on its under surface and above some- 
what close-set erect stems } to 2 feet long. The base for about 
2 inches is swollen into a narrow cylindrical pseudobulb, girt, like 
the portion above for a short distance, with the scarious sheaths 
of fallen leaves. The upper part, forming the peduncle, is closely 
invested with long narrow subscarious bracts, which are 2-23 
inches in length about the middle of the axis, but become 
continually shorter in the upper floriferous half. The small 
flowers are borne on short (2-4 lines), about 6-flowered lateral 
shoots in the axils of minute scaly bracts. The oblong dorsal 
sepal is narrower than the lateral ones, and 23 lines long by 1 
broad ; the lateral are 4 lines long and 14 broad, ovately oblong, and 
adnate by a broader base to the foot of the column, forming a 
chin into the upper part of which fits the thin linear basal part 
of the lip, § line long, which is at first parallel to the long foot of 
the column, but soon expands into the erect, then upwardly 
recurving broadly oblong lamina (23 lines long by 1} broad) with 
a crisped margin. The lateral petals, shaped like the leaflets of a 
horse-chestnut, are only 2 lines long. The column has narrowly 
winged edges, is 14 line long, and becomes gradually broader 
upwards ; the galeate anther measures 3 line from back to front, 
and is 1-locular with a small partition at the back. The 2 pollinia 
are adnate in the centre, and separable with difficulty. 
A characteristic species approaching the South-African P. tes- 
sellata, Lindl., but at once distinguished by the very short 
branches of the inflorescence as well as by its floral characters. 
