56 ORCHIDS OF JAMAICA 



Neither at Kev* nor the British Museum are thoro any specimens 

 named P. gelida, and Grisohach moroly quotes [sindley's description, 

 which was based on a cultivated plant obtained by Messrs. Loddigos from 

 Jamaica. 



The figure in Xenia Orchidacca (Hi. t. 267, II.) represents the flower 

 more widely open than obtains in any specimens we have seen. 



4. P. velaticaulis Beichb. f. in Linnsea xxii. 824 (1849) ; 

 racemes 1-5, with numerous flowers, shorter than leaf, or about 

 as long, enclosed by a large leathery spathe; ovary terete, 

 smooth ; sepals keeled, lateral subfree ; lip 3-lobed, lateral lobes 

 emarginate. LindJ. Fol. Orcli. Pleuroth. 29 (1859); Cogn. op. 

 cit. 400 & under. P. crassipes Lindl., so far as concerns Jamaican 

 specimen Fl. Jam. 7745. (PI. 8, f. 17-22.) 



On rocks and trees; in fl. Nov.; near Cinchona, 5000 ft., Harris | 

 Fl. Jam. 7745. Cuba. 



Plant a foot or more high. Stems 13-21 cm. 1., clustered, long, slender, 

 angular, of two internodes, with a long thin tubular sheath at each node, 

 5 cm. L, with a shorter outer one at the base. Leaf oblanceolate-oblong, 

 tapering into a long stalk, shorter than the stem, 10-12 cm. 1., of which 

 the stalk is about 2 cm. 1., 2-2*5 cm. br. Racemes 6-10 cm. 1. Bracts 

 tubular below, dilated upwards, truncate, apiculate, 3-3*5 mm. 1. Pedicels 

 as long as the bracts. Ovary 3*5-4 mm. 1., carrying the flower much above 

 the bracts. Sepals, median ovate, subacute, 3-nerved, 4 mm. 1., 2 mm. br. ; 

 lateral lanceolate, acute, 3-nerved, 4 mm., 1., 1*3 mm. br. Petals linear- 

 oblong, blunt, obscurely apiculate, 1-nerved, a little over 2 mm. 1., 

 *7 mm. br. Lip broad, 3-lobed, 3-nerved, 1*7 mm. 1., barely 1*5 mm. br., 

 inserted by a short broad claw, above which is a transverse ridge, middle 

 lobe shortly ovate, blunt ; lateral lobes much shorter than the middle lobe, 

 rounded, emarginate. Column short, broad, about 1 mm. 1., without a 

 membranous margin. 



Reichenbach's description differs in that the sepals are oblong, obtuse, 

 and the petals cuneate. This species is very near P. crassipes Lindl. 



5. P. alpestris Lindl. Gen. & Sp. Orcli. Pleuroth. 7 (1830); 

 racemes, 1-several, with numerous flowers, not much longer than 

 the small leaf, or about as long ; sepals yellowish-green, shortly 

 acute, connivent into a tube, the lateral connate nearly to apex. 

 Griseb. op. cit. 607 ; Cogn. op. cit. 401. P. nigroannulata 

 Cogn. in Fedde Bepert. vi. 306 (1909) in part (Fl. Jam. 7554) & 

 in Symb. Ant. vi. 417. Epidendrum alpestre Sw. Prodr. 125 

 (1788). Dendrobium alpestre Sw. in Nov. Act. Upsal. vi. 84 

 (1799) & Fl. Ind. Occ. 1545. Type in Herb. Mus. Brit. 



On trees; in fl. Nov.-Feb. ; Blue Mts., Sivartzl Clydesdale, 4000 ft., 

 J.P. 29 ; 35 ; Morris ! Cinchona, C. Nicholls ! Mt. Hybla ; Silver Hill Wood- 

 land, 4000 ft. ; Hardware Gap ; Woodcutters' Gap, 4000 ft. ; Holly Mount, 

 Mt. Diabolo, 2600 ft. ; near Cinchona, 4000 ft. ; Harris ! Fl. Jam. 7554, 

 7613, 7829, 8908, 10,502. 



Plant 4 or 5 in. high. Stems 2-3 cm. 1., 1 mm. or less thick, clustered ; 

 somewhat compressed and angular when dry ; a loose membranous sheath 

 springs from a node just above the base and extends about half-way to the 

 leaf. Leaf 3-4*5 cm. 1., 7-13 mm. br., narrowly oval to oval-lanceolate, 



