Tas. 7403.- 
DISA SAGITTALIS. 
Native of South Africa. 
Nat. Ord. OrcuipEx.—Tribe OrpHryYDER. 
Genus Disa, Berg. ; (Benth. & Hook. f. Gen. Plant. vol. iii. p. 630.) 
Disa (Coryphea) sagittalis; foliis synanthiis, radicalibus pluribus oblanceolatis 
acutis, caule erecto vaginis acutis membranaceis arcte vestito, racemo 
oblongo cylindraceo v. subcorymbiforme, floribus patentibus puberulis 
pallide lilacinis, bracteis ovario brevioribus, sepalis lateralibus oblongis 
acutis, postico erecto e basi tubuloso repente in laminam patulam alte 
2-lobam recurvam dilatato, lobis cuneatis basi tortis, calcare recto elougato 
conico, petalis erectis linearibus basi extus in auriculam magnam dilatatis, 
labello lineari undulato, rostello brevi rotundato concavo, polliniarum 
glandula 2-loba. 
D. sagittalis, Sw. in Kongl. Vetensk. Acad. Nya Handl. vol. xxi. (1800), 
P- = Lindl. Gen. &§ Sp. Orchid. p. 350. Bolus Ie. Orchid. Austro-African, 
1. t. 32. ; 
Orchis sagittalis, Linn. f. Suppl. p. 399. 
Satyrium sagittale, Thunb. Prodr. Pl. Cap. p. 5. 
No genus of terrestrial Orchids requires for its satis- 
factory elucidation good drawings and analysis more 
than does Disa; for the species are very numerous, and 
the structural differences and complicated features of its 
column and sepals are greater, I think, by far, than 
in any other genus of the Order. To which must be added 
the difficulty of describing, in intelligible language, the 
irregular and often bizarre and even deceptive characters 
of these organs, which, in dried specimens especially, are 
apt to lead the systematist far astray. Considering his 
materials and opportunities, Lindley’s work on the genus 
in his ‘‘Genera and Species of Orchids,” is remarkably 
skilful; but until Mr. Bolus took the field and published 
his masterly researches in the ‘‘ Orchids of the Cape Penin- 
sula” and “Icones Orchidearum Austro-Africanarum”’ 
hardly a dozen of the 109 described species could be 
said to be satisfactorily known. 
_ Disa sagittalis is figured and described in the last men- 
tioned of Mr. Bolus’ works, and a comparison of his 
results with those given in our figure shows a remarkably 
Marcu Isr, 1895, - 
