62 ORCHIDS OF JAMAICA 



17. P. testifolia J /null, in Ann. d- Mag. Nat. Hist. ser. 3, i. 328 

 (1858) : stems very short from a creeping rhizome ; leaf oval or 

 roundish oval, 7 9-nerved, sessile at the apex of the stalk-like 

 stem, minutely .''-toothed at the obtuse apex ; sepals purple, 

 oblong, 3-nerved, covered with white hairs, median obtuse and 

 minutely apiculate, lateral connate above the middle, gibbous at 

 base, comment above over the lip and column, concave, narrowing 

 to a shortly apiculate apex. Lindl. Fol. Orch. Pleural//. 43 ; 

 Griseb. op. cit. 609; Cogn. op. cit. 414. Epidendrum testsefoliura 

 Sw. Prodr. 122 (1788). Cymbidium testsefolium Sw. in Nov. 

 Act, Upsal. vi 71 (1799) & Fl, Ind. Occ. 146. 



In fl. Sept.-Feb. ; Wilsonl Purdiel March\ Bethabara, Wullschlaegely 

 1082! J.P. 2122, Symel Dollwood ; Lancaster, 2200-2500 ft.; near Mabess 

 River, 4000 ft. ; near John Crow Peak; Harris ! Fl. Jam. 7548, 7551, 7787, 

 10,484. Cuba, Martinique, Venezuela. 



Plant creeping, branch with leaf to 1^ in. 1. Rhizome long, creeping, 

 rooting at the nodes, ringed, 1 mm. or a little more thick ; sheaths 

 about equal to internodes, membranous, obtuse, keeled. Secondary stems 

 reduced, distant along rhizome, usually at every third node, 1 cm. or less 

 apart, about 5 mm. 1., enveloped in a pair of overlapping truncate sheaths. 

 Leaf 20-30 mm. 1., 10-20 mm. br. Flower purple, nearly ^ in. 1., single, 

 subsessile, subtended by a sheath ; sheath ultimately about 6 mm. 1., 

 persistent, accrescent, conduplicate, with a lacerate-winged keel. Ovary 

 covered with white hairs. Sepals, median 5*5 mm. 1., 1*5 mm. br., lateral 

 6 mm. 1. Petals 2 - 5-3 mm. 1., erect, not quite half the length of the sepals, 

 spathulate, crenulate at upper margin. Lip including the narrow claw 

 (75 mm. 1.), 2*75-3 mm. 1., broadly oblong-pandurate, shortly auriculate 

 at the base, apex rounded, 3-nerved, margin with long hairs. Column 

 slightly shorter than the petals ; clinandrium membranous, curled- 

 crenulate. 



18. P. tribuloides Lindl. Gen. & Sp. Orch. 6 (1830); stems 

 very short, clustered ; peduncle shorter than leaf-stalk, one or a 

 few together, 1 -flowered ; capsule covered with soft prickles. 

 Lindl. Fol. Orch. Pleuroth. 39 ; Griseb. op. cit. 609 ; Krdnzl, in 

 Xen, Orch. Hi. 131, t. 275, /. III. & 14-19 ; Cogn, op. cit. 415. 

 Epidendrum tribuloides Sw. Prodr. 123 (1788). Dendrobium 

 tribuloides Sw. in Nov. Act, Upsal. vi. 83 (1799), Fl, Ind. Occ. 

 1535 & Adnot. Bot. t. 1,/. 4. Type in Herb. Mus. Brit. 



On trees in moist woods; in fl. Aug.-Jan. ; in fr. Oct. -Jan. ; Swartzl 

 Wilson ! Macfadyen ! St. Mary, Purdie ! Beaufort, Wullschlaegel, 1080 ! 

 St. Mary, 2000 ft., J.P. 2402, Syme ! Mabess River, 2000 ft., 67. Nichols t 

 Slope of John Crow Peak, 200 ft. above Mabess River, Faivcett ! Union 

 Hill, near Moneague, Lady Blake ! Trelawney, Miss T. M. Barrett ! Mt. 

 Moses ; Mabess River ; Mt. Airy, 2000 ft. ; Belvedere, Hanover, 500 ft. ; 

 near Christiana, 2600 ft. ; Harris ! Fl. Jam. 7546, 7648, 10,402. Cuba, 

 Costa Rica, Mexico. 



Plant 1 or 2 in. high. Stems about 2 mm. 1., closely clustered on a 

 short densely rooted rhizome, and enveloped in scarious sheaths. Leaf 

 3-5 cm. 1., 8-10 mm. br., narrowly elliptical to elliptical-oblong, tapering 

 into a long stalk, minutely emarginate. Peduncle closely surrounded by 

 short blunt scarious sheaths. Ovary densely covered with long papillae. 



