( 3975 ) 



Stelis atropurpurea. Dark-flowered 



Stelis. 



Class and Order. 

 Gynandria Monandria. 



( Nat. Ord. — OrchidejE. ) 



Generic Character. 



Sepala globoso-conniventia, aequalia, valvata, basibus 

 subconnata. Petala nana. Labellum nanum petalis con- 

 forme. Columna nana, mutica, cum ovario continua. An- 

 thera l-locularis. Pollinia 2, ovata, cereacea, distincta, 

 nunc ad apicem materie viscida cohserentia. — Herbae epi- 

 phytes habitu Pleurothallis. Lindl. 



Specific Name and Character. 



Stelis * atropurpurea ; folio oblongo-subspathulato retuso, 

 pedunculo squamato folio longiore, spica nutante, flo- 

 ribus sessilibus, sepalis trinerviis petalisque (triplo mi- 

 noribus) rotundato-ovatis obtusissimis atro-purpureis 

 labello patulo aequantibus late ovatis basi canaliculars 

 bituberculatis. 



This new Stelis,, as I believe it to be., was sent by Mr. 

 Parkinson from Mexico, to His Grace the late Duke of 

 Bedford, and it flowered in the stove of the Orchideous 

 house of that nobleman at Woburn, in February, 1839. 

 It has little beauty to recommend it in comparison with 

 many of this family of plants, which are such universal 

 favorites. 



Descr. Stems tufted, short, sheathed with scales, and 

 bearing a solitary leaf, which is articulated upon the apex. 



Leaf 



* The Greek name of some parasitical plant found growing upon trees, 

 and so made applicable to a Epiphytal Orchideous plant. 



