566 JOURNAL BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XVI. 



4. DENDROBIUM. 



Epiphytes, Stems elongate. Flowers in racemes, sepals subequal, 

 the lateral connected obliquely with the foot of the column and forming 

 with it a sac ; Up contracted at the base, side lobes usually embracing 

 the column which is short, pollinia 4, a combined pair in each 

 cell. 



Section I — Cadet ia (character given in list of genera). 



Flowers white, Up yellow ... ... ...1. D. macraei. 



Section II. — Stachyobium. 



(a) Sepals and petals white, lip pink with 



dark red veins ... ... ...?. D. microbulbon. 



Sepals and petals white, Up yellowish 



green ... ... ... ...8. D. mabelce. 



(b) Flowers greenish yellow ... ...4. D. chlorops. 



Flowers white, suffused with rose ...5. D. barbatidum. 



(c) Flowers white ... ... ... ...6. D. herbaceum. 



Section III. — Eudendrobium. 



Sepals and petals yellow, Up with purple 



nerves and thick, soft, hairs ... ...7. D. macrostachyum. 



Floioers waxy, shining rose colour, lip 



yellow ... ... .. ...8. D. crepidatam. 



Differing from above in the sepals, petals and lip being equal and 

 similar in colour. D. crepidatum, var. avita. 



Section I. — Cadet ia. 



1. Dendrobium macrabi, LindL — Fl. Br. Ind., V. 714 ; Dalz. and 

 Gibs., p. 260. 



Pseudobulbs spindle shaped, leaves leathery, sessile, oblong obtuse. 

 Floioers reversed about f inch long, sepals and petals white spreading, 

 linear lanceolate acute, Up yellow with pink suffusion, lateral lobes 

 obtuse, midlobe with two diverging crisped lobules, disk between the 

 side lobes with two fleshy crests. 



Flowers from May onwards to the end of August. 



Distribution. — Common on the Belgaum and Kanara Ghats. Occurs also 

 in the Sikkim, Himalaya, Khasia Hills, Nilgiris, Ceylon and Java. 



It forms large masses on the branches of trees and the small white flowers, 

 owing to their position at the very bases of the leaves, often escape obser- 

 vation. 



