Tas. 4977. 
CIRRHOPETALUM Menus. 
Me edusa' s-h ead Orchis. 
Nat. Ord. OncHIDEZ.—GYNANDRIA Monoe@ynia. 
Gen. Char. Sepala ringentia; lateralia acuminata, longissima, valde obliqua, 
basi productz columne adnata, supremo multo longiora. Petala nana, apiculata. 
Labellum integrum, cum basi columne articulatum. Columna minima, basi 
longe producta, apice bicornis. Anthera dilocularis. Pollinia 4, quorum duo 
interiora multo minora, per paria connata.—Herbe epiphyte ; rhizomate repente, 
pseudobulbos monophyllos gerente. Folia coriacea, avemia. Flores dense race- 
mosi, nunc radiati, in apice scapi radicalis.—Lindl. 
CirrHopetaLum Meduse ; pseudobulbis ovatis tetragonis, folio oblongo con-, 
yexo emarginato, vaginis scapi oblongis ventricosis supremo pedunculo lon- 
eiore, floribus dense capitatis, sepalo supremo acuminato inferioribus lon- — 
gissimis pendulis, petalis triangularibus acuminatis, labello ovato-acuminato 
bicarinato, columne auriculis acutis.— Lindl. 
CrrrHoPpETaLuM Meduse. Lindl. Bot. Reg. 1842, ¢. 13. 
etl eet hee 
Strange as are the forms of the flowers of many of the tro- 
pical Orchidee, there are few which present a more remarkable 
appearance than the present. ‘They are small, but so numerous 
in the spike, and two out of the three sepals are so very much 
lengthened, as to give the spike the appearance of a head with | s 
very long dishevelled hair, which has induced Dr. Lindley to call 
the plant the “ Medusa’s-head Orchis.” It is a native of Singa- 
pore, and was imported by Messrs. Loddiges to our stoves, where 
it flowers in the winter-months. 
Duscr. Pseudobulbs ovate, compressed but subtetragonal, 
dark brown, with one or more large brown scales at the base, 
and arising from a creeping, slender caudew or rhizome. Leaf 
solitary from the apex of the bulb, large for the size of the plant | 
(five to six inches long), ligulate, obtuse or retuse, fleshy and — 
subcoriaceous, tapering into a short, terete petiole at the base. 
Scape arising from the base of the pseudobulb, a span long, 
APRIL lst, 1857. 
