Tas. 4630. 
ROSCOEA purpurREa. 
Purple-flowered Roscoea. 
Nat. Ord. ScrramInra.—MoNnANDRIA Mownoaynia. 
Gen. Char. Calyx tubulosus. Corolle tubus sursum dilatatus, limbi lacinie 
exteriores laterales angustee, patentes, postica fornicata, erecta, interiores laterales 
breves, postice conniventes ; Jabellum majus, bilobum. Filamentum brevissimum, 
carinatum, anthera incurva basi bicalcarata terminatum. Ovarium inferum, tri- 
loculare. Ovula in loculorum angulo centrali plurima, horizontalia, anatropa. 
Stylus filiformis ; stigma globulare, perforatum. Capsula trilocularis, loculicido- 
trivalvis. Semina plurima, arillata—Herbe Nepalenses ; radice e tuberibus fas- 
ciculatis, caule erecto, folioso, spica subcapitata, bracteata. Endl. 
Roscora purpurea; spica brevi sessili pauciflora intra foliorum vaginas inclusa, 
labello obovato profunde bilobo, caule gracili, foliis lanceolatis angustis- 
sime acuminatis. 
Roscoza purpurea. J. HE. Smith, Exot. Bot. v. 2. p. 97. ¢. 108, and in Linn. 
Trans. v.13. p.460. Royle, Ill. Himal. Bot. t. 89. f.3, (not of Hook. Exot. 
Fl. t. 144, nor of Rosc. Monandr. Pl. t. 86, nor Lindl. Bot. Reg. 1840. 
t. 61.) N 
_ Reared from tubers sent to the Royal Gardens, from Khasya, 
in North-eastern Bengal, by Dr. Hooker; and these specimens 
(flowering in September 1851) exactly correspond with drawings 
made by that naturalist on the spot. They sufficiently accord 
with the original 2. purpurea of Sir J. E. Smith, to satisfy us 
that it is identical with that species ; whereas, further north, in 
Sikkim-Himalaya, Dr. Hooker detected and drew and transmitted 
living plants to Kew of what has been called R. purpurea by us 
(im “Exotic Botany’), by Mr. Roscoe (in his fine work on Mo- 
nandrian plants), and by Dr. Lindley (in ‘ Botanical Miscellany ’). 
All the plants of these authors agree in being larger and stouter 
than the one now before us, with swollen stems and ovato-lan- 
ceolate approximate leaves, and flowers of a pale lilac-purple, 
With a very large and broad lip, nearly entire at the apex. We 
hardly dare venture to assert that the two kinds are truly 
distinct, though I am disposed to think them so: but whether 
Species or varieties, our present plant, now we believe first 
FEBRUARY Ist, 1852. 
