456 GYNANDRIA MONANDRIA. Mttlaxis. 



The lip and apex of" the column of the fructification, are 

 both very remarkable in this pretty plant, which is from six 

 to twelve inches high. The latter may be compared to the 

 bill of a sparrow, which opens when the plant is in vigorous 

 blossom, exposing the two pedicelled polliniferous masses, 

 hanging in a recurved direction from the apex of the upper 

 part of the bell. The lower part, or close of the lip, linear 

 and partly attached to the fore part of the column ; the lami- 

 na linear also, but transverse, like the letter T. It has the 

 beaked anther of Swartz's JSTeottia, and may belong to that 

 genus. 



5. E. graininifolia. R. 



Leaves radical, linear-lanceolar, ribbed. Scape few-flow- 

 ered. Lip three-lobed, with a double crest in the middle. 



A small species, from about eight to nine inches in height ; 

 a native of Silhet, where it flowers during the rains. The 

 flowers are pretty large and yellow. 



MALAXIS. Stvartz. 



Coro/ five-petal led. Zip concave, patula ascending. Jin- 

 thers operculate. 



I. M. plieata. R. 



Parasitic. Leaves in radical tufts, broad lanceolate, 

 plaited. Spikes central, erect, naked. Floicers numerous. 



It has the erect habit of Katou-ponnam-maravara. RheecL 

 H. Mul. xii. t. 28. which is quoted by Willdenow for his 

 Malaxis odorata. 



A native of Sumatra, from thence brought by Mr. Rox- 

 burgh to the Botanic garden in 1804, where it blossoms in 

 July. 



Leaves from four to five in a tuft, with their short sheath- 

 ing petioles, formed into a short stalk ; broad lanceolate, 

 somewhat obliquely recurved, plaited, smooth; margins a 



