ee 
^ 
ii 
COLLECTED BY MR. ALEXANDER WHYTE. 47 
The plants turn black on drying; the slightly ribbed leaf-sheaths decrease in length 
from 14 lines at the base of the stem to 10 lines just below the simple spike. Leaf- 
blade linear-oblong, with a rounded apex and fine prominent longitudinal veins 23 to 
34 in. long, 6-7 lines wide. The acuminate bracts are about 3 lines long, the spike 
27 in. The flowers, now dropped, have been few and distant. 
Disa ZOMBAENSIS, Rendle, sp. n. (Plate VIT. A, figs. 1-3.) Insignis caule robusto, 
rufescente, infra foliato, foliis quinque spiraliter ordinatis, rufescentibus, late 
lanceolatis, subacuminatis, sessilibus, supra in spicam densam evoluto; bracteis 
lanceolatis, foliis consimilibus, sed minoribus, infra flores sessiles excedentibus, supra 
iis subeequalibus aut apice brevioribus; sepalis lateralibus ovali-oblongis, apice 
oblique apieulatis, venis tribus conspicuis convergentibus, sepalo dorsali majore 
galeato in calcar longum, tenue, subrecurvatum, semipollicare producto; petalis 
ligulatis, galea inclusis, semipollicaribus ; labello tenui, filiformi; columna crassa, 
brevi, truncata; ovario hirto, subcylindrico, utrinque attenuato. 
The stem is 2 ft. 4 in. long; the lower 7 in. are leafy, with broadly lanceolate leaves, 
decreasing in size upwards from 33 to 3 in. long by 1-2 in. broad; the remainder forms 
a dense spike of sessile flowers, subtended by lanceolate bracts smaller than, but other- 
wise similar to, the leaves, and also decreasing upwards, the lower ones exceeding 
the flowers, the uppermost falling short of them. The oval-oblong sepals are 6-7 lines 
long by 3-33 wide, with three fine but well-marked darker longitudinal veins converging 
at the apex, and several fainter ones between these and the margin; the large hooded 
posterior sepal is 2 in. high by 4 in. broad, and produced into a narrow, slightly recurved 
dorsal spur, 3 in. long. The ligulate petals are 6 lines long by 1 broad, 5-nerved below, 
2 
3-nerved above. The filiform lip is 5 lines long by + line wide. The ovary is ¿ in. long 
and 23 lines thick, subcylindrical, narrowing at either end. 
Hab. Zomba, Dec. 1891. No. 3. 
Resembles Disa Walleri, but the flowers are twice the size. 
Disa ($ HERSCHELIA) HAMATOPETALA, Rendle, sp. n. (Plate VII. B, figs. 4-6.) Erecta, 
glabra, foliis radicalibus anguste gramineis; scapo flexuoso, laxe 2-7-floro, bracteis 
brunneis, membranaceis, ovatis acuminatis, sterilibus, margine sub medio connatis ; 
floribus breviter pedicellatis; sepalis lateralibus ovali-oblongis, obtusis, dorsali 
galeato, calcare brevi recto-cylindrico; petalis basi columnz adnatis, hamatis, apice 
late emarginatis ; labello elongato, triangulari, plano, supra basin profunde fimbriato. 
The flexuose stem is densely surrounded at the base by the remains of the withered 
grass-like leaves, and varies in length from 6 or 7 inches to more than a foot, the shorter 
forms bearing only one or two flowers, which are also smaller than those on the larger, 
more robust stems. The bracts on the lower part of the flower-stem have their edges con- 
nate for half their length or more; in the region of the flowers they are free. The larger 
flowers measure 14 in. from the top of the spur to the end of the lateral sepals ; some of 
