1239 



DENDROBIUM* anceps. 



Two-edged Dendrobium. 



GYNANDRIA MONOGYNIA. 



Nat. ord. Orchide^. § Malaxidece. Lindley. 

 DENDROBIUM. — Suprd, vol. 7. fol. 548. 



D. anceps ; caule ancipiti simplici, foliis distichis scapelliformibus planis, 



pedunculis binis ^ basi vaginarum brevissimis. Swartz act. holm. 1800. 



p. 246. Willd. sp.pl. 4. 136. Spreng. syst. 3. 738. 



Caules numerosi, comjjressi, carnosi, penduli. Folia disticha, carnosa, 



compressa, ovato-oblonga, acuta, pallide viridia. Flores solitarii, herbacei. 



Sepala ovata, erecta, acuta, interiora minora, inferiora cum basi productd 



columnce longe connata. Labellum unguiculatuvi, ecallosum, inappendicu- 



latum, articulatum, cuneatum, emarginatum, crenulatum, paululilm colo- 



ratum. Stigma bicallosum intrd cavitatem. Pollinia 4, didyma, libera, 



collateralia. Anthera pedicellata. 



An inhabitant of the trunks of trees in swampy, low 

 situations, in the sestuaries of the rivers of Bengal and 

 Pegu, according to Dr. Wallich, to whom the Gardens of 

 England are indebted for the introduction of this curious 

 species. In its natural position it is pendulous; but in our 

 drawing it is represented erect, — the plant in the Garden 

 of the Horticultural Society from which the figure was 

 taken, having at that time been tied to a stake. It flowers 

 at uncertain seasons, and grows more freely than other 

 plants with a similar habit. 



In appearance it is very like the Herba supplex quinta 

 ofRumphius, vol. 6. ]>. 111. t. 51. f. 2; but that plant has 

 spiked flowers, and. Dr. Wallich informs us, is quoted by 

 Roxburgh in his MSS. to his Dendrobium acinaciforme. 



* From ^sv^gov, a tree, and jS<'«5, life. All the g'eiiuine species are found 

 upon trees, in the hot parts of the East Indies. 



