sepals there arises a perfectly transparent glossy appressed 
clavate hair, which can scarcely be perceived except under 
a lens. 
Ponthieva maculata has rather a wide range in geo- 
graphical distribution; there are in the Herbarium dried 
specimens from an elevation of 6000 to 7000 feet on the 
Silla de Caraccas in Venezuela, collected by Linden, Crueger, 
and Fendler; and from Colombia by Hartweg, as also by 
Funck and Schlim, at an elevation of 7500 feet, in the 
province of Pamplona. Linden describes the foliage as 
resembling that of Arnica montana, and the lower sepals as 
white spotted with red, and the petals as white streaked 
with rose, colours hardly consistent with those of the 
cultivated specimens. 
A. maculata flowered at Kew in March of the present 
year from plants purchased at Stevens’ auction rooms. 
Descr. Whole plant covered sparsely with long spreading 
flaccid hairs. Roots of stout fleshy fibres. Leaves a foot 
long and less, sessile or narrowed into a petiole, from 
elliptic-lanceolate to narrowly oblong-lanceolate, acuminate, 
pale green, with few nearly longitudinal nerves. Scape 
stout, erect, longer than the leaves, bearing two or three 
short appressed acute green sheaths, and a lax raceme-like 
spike of horizontal flowers. Bracts ovate-lanceolate, much 
shorter than the slender strict ovaries, which are one inch 
long. Flowers three-quarters of an inch across the sepals; 
perianth widely spreading, with the minute lip upwards. 
Dorsal-sepals inferior, ovate-lanceolate, acute, pale brown 
with darker streaks; lateral sepals twice as large, broadly 
elliptic, long-ciliated, white with brown spots. Column 
slender, projecting forwards, bearing at its extremity the 
two petals which hanging down in front resemble a lip. 
Petals dimidiate-ovate, parallel and close together, clawed, 
yellow with red-brown streaks. Lip very small, fleshy, 
reflected, tongue-shaped, acute, curved, concave. Stigma 
concave, with membranous walls.—J. D. H. 
e 
Fig. 1, Top of column, two petals, tip, and (at the top) the lower part of the 
column ; 2, anthers ; 3, pollen cial fe 5 : . : 
i weit sat 
