The dull purplish tinge of the leaves added to 

 the much deeper and brighter colour of the flowers, 

 gives a peculiar and striking aspect. It seems 

 nearly allied to P. obcordata^ and still more nearly 

 to the following, but I believe them all three dis- 

 tinct Is it not rather a Gymnadema? 



I suspect both these plants might with equal or 



greater propriety have been referred to Gymnadtnia^ 

 but I confess I do not know how to distinguish 

 them. I at first placed them in that genus and fear 

 I have changed for the worse, 



1693. Plalantiiera affinis (R, W,), stem leafy: 

 leaves ovate, acute, sessile, three-nerved : diminish- 

 ing in size towards the apex : flowers small, axillary, 



sessile : sepals and petals galiate : posterior sepal 



ovate, scarcely exceeding the length of the narrower half the length of the ovary : sepals and petals ovate, 



lanceolate acute petals: anterior sepals slightly ex- bluntish, about equal: lip concave at the base, 3- 



ceeding the posterior: lip broad, obovate, slightly lo^ed; lateral lobes long, filiform, acute, cirrhate at 



sepals ; middle one short, fleshy, conical, blunt-point- 

 ed, furrowed in front, shorter than the inflated blad- 

 dery spur. Sepals green, petals and spur greenish- 

 white. 



Neilgherries, in pastures. 



The aspect of the lip of this species is very pecu- 

 liar, recalling to mind the head and very long norns 

 of some of the antelope tribe. It seems very dis- 

 tinct from all Richard's species. 



1698. Peristyjlis exilis (R. W.), stem naked or 

 slightly vaginate at the base, leafy in the middle: 

 leaves lanceolate, acuminate, acute, tapering at Ihe 

 base into a short; petiol, slightly sheathing: scape 

 very long and slender, furnished with a few remote 

 scales : flowers numerous : bracts ovate, acute, about 



pointed, disk pubescent, claw ciliate: spur short, 

 obtuse, inflated. 



Pulney Mountains, flowering September. 



The flowers of this species are much smaller and 



the point, middle one much shorter, straight; spur 

 short, inflated at the apex, with a narrow neck. 



Pulney Mountains, flowering September. 



The whole plant varies from 15 to 20 inches in 



fewer, less compactly congregated, than in the other l^^'S^t and is very slender in proportion to its length. 



in which the apex of the stem at length almost as- 

 sumes the form of a raceme, the leaves being re- 

 duced to the size of ordinary bracts. 



1694. Plalaisthera brachtphtlla (Lind.), leaves 



2, radical, fleshy, reniform, orbicular: scape clothed 

 with acuminate scales : bracts ovate, acuminate, 



cucullate, as long as the flowers : sepals ovate round- 

 ish, the upper ones obtuse, the lateral ones acute, 

 pendulous: petals smaller, ovate: lip deeply 3-cleft, 

 shorter than the sepals, three times shorter than the 

 clavate spur, ovary beaked. Flowers greenish-white, 

 spur green. 



The specimen represented grew on the Neilgher- 

 ries, but I have repeatedly met with the plant in 

 other localities. 



1695. Peristtlis Lawii (R. W.), stem loosely 

 vaginate at the base, three or four-leaved in the 

 middle, above naked: leaves oblong lanceolate, 

 acute, scape exceeding the leaves, thin : sepals 

 linear lanceolate, obtuse, narrower than the petals : 

 lip equaling the sepals, 3-lobed at the apex, lobes 

 all equal, or the middle one a little broader, spur 

 short, bladdery. 



Belgaum. I am indebted to Mr, Law of Bombay 

 for my specimens of this plant. 



1696. Peristvlis spiralis (A. Richard), stem 

 slender, leafless at the base, loosely vaginate : leaves 

 3-4 elliptico-lanceolate acute, sheathing at the base ; 

 scape above clothed with acuminate scales, passing 

 into bracts, spike spiral, flowers small: bracts lan- 

 ceolate acuminate, as long as the flowers: sepals 

 ovate, oblong, obtuse : petals lanceolate, acute: lip 

 saccate at the base, 3-cleft, fleshy, the middle lobe 

 a little broader, all linear obtuse. Flowers greenish- 

 white. 



Neilgherries, in pastures, not unfrequent. 



1697. Pkristylis Richardianus (R. W.), stem 

 leafy from the base: leaves ovate, lanceolate, acute, 

 scarcely sheathing at the base: spike somewhat 

 compact: bracts broad, ovate, acuminate, shorter 

 than the ovary : sepals and petals equal : lip 3-lobed, 

 lateral lobes filiform, subulate, erect, longer than the 



1699. Peristylts robustior (R. W.), erect, 



lower half of the stem naked, with the exception of 

 three or four sheathing scales: above leafy to the 

 base of the spike: leaves 8-10, lanceolate, acute, 

 shortly sheathing at the base: spike short, thin: 

 bracts ovate, acuminate, very acute, nearly equaling 

 the ovary : sepals and petals lanceolate, equal, some- 

 what broader towards the point: lip 3-lobed, lateral 

 lobes filiform, pendulous, middle one subulate, much 

 shorter; spur about the length of the sepals, blad- 

 dery at the apex, contracted above into a narrow 

 neck. 



This species is certainly very nearly allied to the 

 former but is a stronger and larger plant, altogether 

 more rigid ; the flowers however seem nearly the 

 same. 



1700. Habenaria foltosa (A. Richard), stem 

 leafless at the base, vaginate, sheaths loose : leaves 

 elliptic, acute, sheathing at the base, decreasing in 

 size above : spikes dense, bracts ovate, acute, con- 

 volute at the base, longer than the ovary: sepals 

 ovate, the posterior one broader and shorter than 

 the lanceolate lateral ones: petals deeply 2-cleft, 

 anterior lobe thiner and shorter: lip 3-parted to the 

 base; lobes filiform, subulate, equal: fleshy pro- 

 cesses of the column long, obtuse: spur inflated, 

 length of the ovary. Flowers greenish or dirty 

 white, petals, especially the extremities, green. 



Neilgherries, on elevated dry knolls among short 

 stunted grass, flowering July and August. 



The plant selected for representation is, for the 

 convenience of suiting the size of the plate, a rather 

 small one. 



1701. Habenaria trinervia (R. W.), leaves 

 cordato-ovate, acute, 3-5-nerved : raceme rather 

 short: bracts ovate subcucuUate, acuminate, longer 

 than the flowers : sepals broad ovate, posterior one 

 orbicular, lateral ones oblique: petals 2-parted, lobes 

 linear, falcate, obtuse, both ascending parallel, the 

 anterior ones shorter: lip 3-parted, lobes nearly 

 equal, somewhat divaricate ; the lateral ones broader 

 towards the apex: spur a little shorter than the 

 ovary, inflated. The flowers from the specimen 



appear yellowish-green. 



( 12 ) 



