176 



RIDLEY. 



.'5. H. microcheila Ridl. 1. c. 600. 



Stems from 1 to 3 m tall, several in a somewhat scattered cluster, 

 recurved or drooping, yellowish-green, rigid, less than 1.5 cm thick, 

 except the reddish, very much enlarged bulbous bases. Leaves subcoria- 

 ceous, linear-oblong, cuspidate, 20 to 24 cm long, 5 cm wide, glabrous on 

 the upper surface, the midrib pubescent beneath, margins glabrous, 

 reddish-brown; petiole 1 cm long, puberulous; ligule oblong, rounded, 

 half as long as the petiole; sheath pubescent above, reticulate. In- 

 florescence small, ovoid, 4 cm long, on a peduncle about as long, which 

 is covered with ovate, ribbed, pubescent bracts. Inflorescence-bracts few, 

 ovate, the largest 3 cm long, 1.5 cm wide, coriaceous, ribbed, pubescent, 

 red, mucronulate, the margins thinner, ciliate. Ovary glabrous, with a 

 tuft of silky hairs at the top. Calyx tubular, 4 cm long, with a few silky 

 hairs at the base, glabrous above except for the two acuminate lobes which 

 bear tufts of hairs. Corolla pink, the tube 5 cm long, the upper lobe 

 ovate-oblong, obtuse, 7 mm long, the lower ones narrower, linear-oblong. 

 Lip creamy-white, 1 cm long, with two short narrow lobes, as long as the 

 anther, base narrow, the sides upcurved and terminated by a rounded 

 crisped limb; disk at base sparingly silky-hairy. Anther very short, 

 glabrous, refuse at the tip. Stigma large, club-shaped. 



Negbos, Cuernos Mountains, near Dumaguete, Elmer .10279, near the river at 

 an altitude of about 900 m. The smallest-flowered species of the section, and 

 remarkable for its white lip, which is unusual in the genus. 



Endemic. 



4. H. lophophora Ridl. 1. c. 007. 



Stems 6 m tall, 3 cm thick, the bulbous base 12 cm in diameter. 

 Leaves lanceolate, oblong, slightly narrowed at the broad base, G9 cm long, 

 15 cm wide, glabrous on the upper surface, beneath silky-velvety, the 

 midrib prominent, silky; petiole 2 cm long, but the blade decurrent to the 

 base; ligule 1 em long, covered with tufts of silky hairs, arranged in 

 transverse lines. Sheath striate, with small, round or linear pustules, 

 each bearing a tuft of silky hairs. Inflorescence clustered, scarlet, on 

 peduncles 1 cm thick, covered with silky hairs. Spike 4 to 5 cm long, 

 ovoid. Bracts ovate, acute, pungent, glabrous, red, longitudinally striate 

 with rather high narrow ridges, with a line of pustules or transverse 

 bars between each rib, the inner bracts lanceolate. Flowers not seen. 

 Fruits glabrous, 2 cm long, flattened, elliptic, beaked, bearing the remains 

 of the calyx, finely ribbed, thin-walled, with numerous oblong to pyriform 

 seeds which are irregular in form, but usually truncate, 2 mm long. 



NEGBOS, Cuernos Mountains, near Dumaguete, Elmer 10365, in fertile glens at 

 an altitude of about 1200 m. 



As a rule it is not advisable to describe a Hornstedtia as new, without seeing 

 the flowers, but an exception may be made in the case of this curious species. 

 The peculiar sheath and ligule, as well as the small flattened fruit, is quite 

 unique in the genus. In some of the islands of the Eastern Archipelago, species 

 are found in which the leaf-sheaths are not only ribbed longitudinally, but also 



