588 JOURNAL, BOMB A Y NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XVIII. 



with short white, loose, moniliform hairs : column short, anther sub- 

 2-celled, pollinia 4, ovoid, cohering in pairs to a very short gland. 



1. Polystachya WlGHTll, Rchb. /.; Fl. Br. Ind. VI, p. 21. 

 Pseudobuibs about \ inch long, ovate. Leaves linear oblong, emargi- 

 nate, the two lower small, the two upper 4^ and 6 inches long by f 

 inch broad, scape scarcely reaching to half the length of the upper 

 leaf or sometimes exceeding it. Flowers \ inch in diameter, in clusters 

 of 10 or 12, on a puberulous rachis, ovary i inch long, sepals yellow, 

 laterals slightly keeled on back, produced at base into a short spur, 

 petals ) r ellow, Up white. 



Flowers in June. 



This has not hitherto been recorded from Bombay, although it is moderately 

 abundant in the ghat forests of Belgaum and North Kanara. 



Distribution. — Western Peninsula to the southward. 



16. LUISIA. 



Epiphytes. Stems and leaves similar, quill-like. Flowers dark 

 coloured, on very short spikes rising through the sheaths on inter- 

 nodes, bracts short, thick, imbricating. Sepals, subequal, petals as 

 long or much longer than the lateral sepals, lip sessile, the basal part 

 concave, the apical part thick and ridged. Column short, anther 

 2-celled, pollinia 2, attached by a broad caudicle to a short gland. 

 Petals as long as lateral sepals ; apex of lip entire, 1. L. tereti folia. 

 Petals much longer than lateral sepals, apex of Up bilobed. 



2. L. tenuifolia. 



1. Luisia teretifolia, Gaud. Fl. Br. Ind. VI, p. 22 ; Cooke, 

 Fl. of Bombay II, p. 701. 



Stems erect and spreading, up to 20 inches long, about \ inch in 

 diameter. Leaves up to 5 inches long, cylindrical obtuse. Peduncles 

 short, thick, issuing from the sheaths on internodes. Flowers in short 

 congested racemes, each f inch in diameter, sessile, ovary twisted, 

 channelled, sepals thick, oblong, greenish yellow and suffused with 

 brown externally, upper slightly keeled, lateral distinctly so towards 

 the tips, petals yellow, distinctly longer than sepals, oblong obtuse 

 apiculate, lip dark purple, with faint, thin, yellow veins, under sur- 

 face yellow, lateral lobes narrow, rounded, terminal broadly cordate 

 cuneate obtuse, column stout, uniformly dark brown. 



Flowers appear in May and June. The plant is common on the Ghats to the 

 southwards. 



Distribution. — Eastern Himalayas, Bengal, Assam, Burma, Andamans, Western 

 Peninsula, Ceylon. 



