Orestia. | CXXXIII. ORCHIDEE (ROLFE). 19 
1. O. elegans, Ridl. in Journ. Linn. Soc. xxiv. 198, t. 6. Stems 
3 in. high, slender, 2—3-leaved. Leaves ovate or lanceolate-ovate, acute 
23-3 in. long, 1-1} in. broad; margin undulate. Scapes 5-6 in. long. 
Raceme lax, many-flowered. Bracts ovate, acuminate, 1-14 lin. long. 
Sepals ovate-oblong; lateral ones faleate, 14 lin. long. Lip nearly 
quadrate, emarginate, with large rounded auricles, 1 lin. long; disc 
with a small purple pubescent cushion in the centre. Column 4 lin. 
long.—Ridl. in Bolet. Soc. Brot. v. 201 (Orestias by error). 
Lower Guinea. Island of St. Thomas: between Lagoa Amelia and San Pedro, 
4000 ft., Moller, 94! 
In habit much resembles Microstylis stelidostachya, Reichb. f. 
4, LIPARIS, Rich.; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Pl. iii. 495. 
Sepals spreading, free, or the lateral ones sometimes more or less 
connate, often falcate and broader than the dorsal. Petals usually 
very narrow. Lip inferior, adnate to the base of the column, usually 
deflexed or recurved above the erect base, entire, often bituberculate at 
the base. Column usually long and slender, incurved, margined or winged 
at the apex; anther terminal; pollinia 4, free or cohering by a viscid 
appendage.—Terrestrial or epiphytic herbs, with or without pseudo- 
bulbs. Leaves one or more, membranous and continuous with the 
sheath, or somewhat coriaceous and jointed on the sheath or pseudo- 
bulb. Flowers small or medium-sized, in lax or dense racemes. Bracts 
small or narrow. 
A genus of about 120 species, found throughout the warm and temperate regions 
of the globe, but most numerous in India. All the African species belong to the 
section Mollitfolie. 
Leaves 3-6 in. long. 
Lip broadest near the apex. 
Lip obcordately bilobed. 
Leaves ovate lanceolate ; apex attenuate or subacute 
Leaves broadly elliptical ; apex subobtuse 
Lip broadly orbicular-ovate ` : : : 
Lip as broad or broader near the base than the apex. 
. DL. rufina. 
. L. guineensis. 
. L. ruwenzoriensis. 
On ka 
Lip linguiform with broad base 4. L. abyssinica, 
Lip broadly elliptical-oblong 5. L. Bowkeri. 
Leaves 1-2 in. long, or rarely longer. 
Stems not pseudobulbous at the base. 
Leaves ovate-lanceolate 6. L. gracilis. 
Leaves broadly ovate : : : 7. L. Welwitschii. 
Stems with ovoid-globose pseudobulbous base . 8. L. capensis ? 
Leaves } in. long . $ g 9. L. Guingange. 
l. L. rufina, Reichb. f. Mss. Pseudobulbs ovoid, }-14 in. long, 
usually triphyllous. Leaves lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, subacute, 
narrowed above the sheathing base, 4—8 in. long, #-1} in. broad. 
Scapes 3-11 ft. high, many-flowered. Bracts ovate-lanceolate, sub- 
acute, 14-3 in. long. Dorsal sepal oblong-lanceolate, subobtuse, 24 in. 
long; lateral ones falcate-oblong, obtuse, 2 lin. long. Petals falcate- 
