CD 



Saccolabium longifolium and Saccolabium 

 Wightianum. 



T. FETCH, B.A., B.Sc. **" -^^ical 



(iAKOtM 



A MONG the species of Saccolabium recorded for Ceylon are 



■^-^ S. longifolium Uk. f. and S. Wightianum Hk. f . 



Saccolabium longifolium was said by Hooker (Flora Ceylon, 

 IV., 198) to have a flower entirely yellow, barred with red on 

 both surfaces, except the lip, which has a few red dots at the 

 apex. Its leaves are lorate, 15-30 cm. long, and 3* 75 cm. 

 broad, and its panicle is 15-20 cm. long, with a long, stout 

 peduncle. Its record for Ceylon rests on C. P. 3492 ; and 

 Hooker quoted a note by Trimen to the effect that the Ceylon 

 plant in the Feradeniya Gardens exactly resembled Lindley's 

 figure, which was taken from a Chinese specimen that flowered 

 in England. The colours given by Hooker appear to be taken 

 from the Ceylon painting. 



Saccolabium longifolium, Hk. f. is Acampe mndtijlora Lind., 

 Fol. Orchid. 1, and Acampe longifolia Lind., loc. cit. Lindley 

 stated that the former, which is the Chinese species, had a 

 yellow lip, and the spur inappendiculate ; while the latter, 

 from Burma, had a white lip, and a hairy plate within the spur ; 

 but Hooker {loc. cit.) stated that in all the specimens he had 

 examined (including Lindley's) there was a hairy plate witbin 

 the sac descending from the mouth on the opposite side from 

 the column. King and Fantling, in " Orchids of the Sikkim- 

 Himalaya," plate 292, figure S. longifolium with a white lip. 



Saccolabium Wightianum Hk. f., according to Hooker in Fi. 

 Ceylon, has its sepals and petals pale yellow, sparingly barred 

 or spotted with red, and a white lip with a few transverse red 

 stripes. Its leaves are ligulate, 10-15 cm. long and 3 cm. 

 broad, and the panicle only 2 "5-5 cm. long. According to 

 Wight (Icones, t. 1670) the flowers are yellowish dashed with 



Annals of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Peradeniya, Vol. VII., Part II., May, 1920. 



6(t)20 (12) 



