Cymbidnim. gynandria monandria. 463 



Root, several simple, or ruinous, thick, smootli, lon«-, con- 

 torted fibres issuing- from the lower naked part of the stem, 

 as well as where clothed with thelower leaves, and adhering 

 firmly to the bark of the tree. Stem perennial, simple, one 

 or two feet long, as thick as the little finger, crooked ; the up- 

 per part covered with leaves; the lower naked, withering 

 away at the lower extremity as it extends from the apex. 

 Leaves approximated, imbricate, alternate, bifarious, linear, 

 channelled, fleshy, smooth, very firm, extremities from two 

 to three-toothed, from six to nine inches long, and about one 

 broad. Racemes axillary, solitary, naked, the length of the 

 leaves, flower-bearing part winding, few-flowered. Flowers 

 from five to ten, remote, bifarious, large, beautifully Avaved 

 and striated with various shades of a greenish yellow. Pe- 

 tals oval, spreading, equal, scolloped. Lip the length of the 

 petals, about the middle its sides approach, forming a tube, 

 apex somewhat pointed. 



Note. When in flower, this is a very beautiful plant ; sus- 

 pended in a room or elsewhere, it will continue to grow for 

 several months, though I believe it will not flower. In this 

 manner it, or the following species, has been brought from 

 China to the coast, under the name of the ah\ or Cameleon 

 plant, and represented as one of the most wonderful produc- 

 tions of nature, because it will only thrive when so suspend- 

 ed. 



It differs from E. Flos acris, in having the stem simple, 

 and the petals oval and scolloped. 



12. C. tessaloides. R. 



Parasitic, caulescent. Leaves bifarious, equitant, linear, 

 praemorse. Racemes lateral, longer than the leaves. Petals 

 equal. Lip with a winged claw and fleshy lamina, which 

 are convex and channelled above, and concave underneath ; 

 apex of two obtuse lobes. Horn conic. 



Vanda. Asiat. Res. iv. 302. 



This beautiful plant is very common in most parts of Ben- 



