46 ORCHIDS OF JAMAICA 



petioles and two Loose papery sheaths, upper sheaths :'> - 5-5 cm. 1. Leaves, 

 blade of upper Leaf 7 1- cm. 1., 4-6-5 cm. In-. Scape 7 L8 cm. I., 8-winged. 

 Raceme - 5*5 cm., lax. Flowers large, greenish, usually from 15 to 10, 

 perianth nearly 4 in. 1. Unicts 4-5 mm. 1., Lanceolate, 1-norved. Pedicels, 



without ovary, S ID mm. Sepals 9 mm. 1., 2"5 nun. hr., greenish margined 

 with purple, linear, acuminate. Petals equal in length to sepal-, purplish, 

 filiform. Lip l"> nun. 1., 8*5 mm. br. Column 4-5 mm. 1., greenish, 

 Blender, curved, enlarged at hase and below the anther. Capsule I'd cm. 1., 

 ellipsoidal, narrowed at base. 



Allied to L. Scmndersiana, but a larger plant with evident stem, and 

 leaves and flowers twice as long. 



4. L. Saundersiana Beichb. f. in Oard. Chron. 1872, 1003 ; 

 with corm ; leaves two, the lower larger, roundish-ovate, cordate 

 to oval, obtuse ; leaf-stalk sheathing, one-third to about one-half 

 the length of the blade ; lip purple, oval, cordate, apex rounded, 

 sometimes minutely apiculate. Midi. op. cit. 274. (PI. 6, f. 6-10.) 



Damp shadv banks amongst mosses; in fl. and fr. Nov.-Dec. ; Cin- 

 chona, 5000 ft., Watt ! J.P. 5, 236, Morris ! C. Nicholls ! Harris ! Fl. Jam. 

 7531, 7734, 7739, 9789. 



Plant very variable in size, 1^-4 in. high. Stem swollen below the 

 ground into a small spherical corm covered by the sheathing leaf-stalks 

 and one or two sheaths, upper sheath 5 to 15 mm. Leaves, lower blade 

 very variable, 12 x 11 mm. to 30 x 25 mm., sometimes to 69 x 40 mm. 

 Scape angled, edges scabrid. Raceme with many flowers, 18-45 mm. 1. 

 Flowers green in bud, dark purple or sometimes crimson when expanded, 

 dark purple when dried, perianth about ^ in. 1. Pedicels 4-7 mm. Bracts 

 4-5 mm., thin, lanceolate, acuminate, 1-nerved. Sepals 4-5 mm. 1., 

 shorter than the lip, greenish in bud, colourless during flowering, lanceo- 

 late. Petals longer than the sepals, purple, narrower, linear, 6 mm. 1., 

 5 mm. br. Lip 5-6 mm. 1., 4*5-5 mm. br. Column curved, enlarged at 

 base and apex. Capsule (unripe) 8 mm. 1., ellipsoidal, narrowed at base. 



5. L. elata Lindl. in Bot. Reg. t. 1175 (1828), with pseudo- 

 bulb ; leaves few (3-5), erect, broadly elliptical, to lanceolate- 

 acute, tapering at the base into sheathing stalks, many-nerved ; 

 lip purple, very broadly spathulate, emarginate, with a lunate 

 callus at base. Lindl. Gen. & Sp. Orch. 27 (excl. syn.) ; Griseb. 

 Fl. Br. W. Ind. 612 ; Bidl. op. cit. 259 ; Cogn. in Fl. Bras. in. 

 pt. 4. 286. 



In shady places; in fl. June-Dec, in fr. July- April; Macfadyen ; 

 Distin\ Wilson ! March \ Near Castleton, J.P. 2395, Symel Morris ! 

 Morse's Gap ; Silver Hill ; Cedar Hurst, 2000 ft. ; Harris ! Fl. Jam. 7608, 

 7659, 7878. Cuba, Hispaniola, Porto Rico, St. Thomas, Guadeloupe, 

 Dominica, St. Vincent, Trinidad, Costa Rica, Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, 

 Paraguay, Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru. 



Plant 12-15 in. high (sometimes only 6 in.). Stem forming a pseudo- 

 bulb, 2-5 cm. 1., 6-8 mm. br., covered by the sheathing leaf-stalks and 

 sheaths. Sheaths, 2 or more, passing into leaves. Leaves 1-3 dm. 1., 

 4-10 cm. br. Scape 2-3 dm. 1., angled. Raceme 8-11 cm. 1., somewhat 

 lax. Flowers purple and green, 10-20, perianth nearly ^ in. 1. Bracts 

 lanceolate, 1-nerved, 5-8 mm. 1. Pedicels 5 or 6 mm. 1. (somewhat longer 

 in fruit). Ovary 8 mm. 1., narrowly 3- winged. Sepals greenish streaked 

 with purple, 5-nerved, oval-elliptical, obtuse; median 5*5 mm. 1., 2-5 mm. 



