unciiiDE.E. l'J9 



"Sepals rinjjent (iiainus; wide), unoqual, the latonil ones fur removed from the top 

 cue (the interval beinj; tuotheil), uniled to eueh other and to the base of the Cdluiiiii, 

 bearded. I'etals none. Lip jointed with the foot of the column, incumbent, 3-lobcd, 

 with 4 parallel lamelhe (thin plates) on the disk, the lateral lobes falcate forwards 

 and bidcntato at the apex. Coluniu much lengthened out below, half round, with 

 2 small horns at the point. Anther crested, 1-celled. PoUcn-niasses 4, cohering 

 in one." A plant witli a cre('ping rhizome (root-stock), -which bears pseudo-bulbs. 

 Leaves single, leathery, witliout veins. Raceme from the root, many-tlowered. 

 Xote (by Lin(lley) : -'This is the oidy known genus of Orchids in which the petals 

 are abortive. 2s'othing is tWund in tiieir room, but there is a wide toothletted interval 

 between the upper and lower sepals." Here follows his further description of the 

 species. 



" Pseudo-bulbs ovate. Loaves with very long petioles (stalks) 1 foot long, erect. 

 Raceme shorter than the leaves. Scape (flower-stalk) light-coloured, bearing a few 

 scales, spotted. Flowers light-coloured, spotted with purple. Lip yellowish. The 

 foot of tlie column thickly dotted with purple." 



As a special interestis attached to this plant, I have been careful to give bore 

 everything that Lindley says of it. There appear to be only 2 or 3 specimens 

 remaining of this singular plant in European Herbaria, and these, as it may well 

 be supposed, owing to their ago, not in a very good state for examination. Lindley 

 himself could only have seen and examined a dried specimen; hence, possibly, he 

 may have been mistaken in some particulars. 



It was my good fortune in February, 1H71, to find on Ta-ol;, at about :30()() feet 

 of elevation, a solitary plant, looking excei'diu^ly like a Bidbophi/Uani. Knowing, 

 by experience, how deceptive these liidhopln/lJuinAiVii Orchids are, I brought it dmvn 

 to Maulmain, where it flowered, and jinived to be a Monomeria. I thought 1 had 

 Lindley's .)/. barbata, so very similar did it prove to his description and to his 

 figure "of that plant in his Sertuin Orchiduceam. Eventually, however (to bo short), 

 Piof. Reichenbach pronounced it to be a distinct species, and gave it the name of 

 Monomeria crabro, from a fancied resemblance of the flower to a hornet. 



Into the distinctions between the two species (which are, after all, very slight) 

 I will not enter, but proceed to give a familiar description of my plant, in the hope 

 that it may be found again some day, and sent homo once more. As I have remarked 

 above, the plant might be passed over as a vciy ordinary looking Bidbophiillum. 

 The rhizome, which is about as thick as a cedar-pencil, and covered with scales, 

 creeps extensively, emitting tough wiry roots from its under part. It has pseudo- 

 bulbs seated upon it, several inches apart. These are pear-shaped, about 2 inches 

 long, and terminated by a solitary, leathery, strap-shaped leaf, which is some 10 

 inches by li. The flowers are about 20, individually 1 inch long, forming a sparse 

 raceme extending over about 9 inches of a curved drooping scape, whicli in total 

 length is 15 or 16 inches. This scape springs from the base of the pseudo-bulb, and 

 has several scales on its lower portion. The flowers, of a remarkable shape, terminate 

 a germ of 1 inch in length, which, in fact, forms their peduncle, and at the base of 

 the germ is a lanceolate bract. Of the 3 sepals the upper one is ovate triangular, 

 sharp-pointed, and stands erect, arched over the column which it in jiart conceals. 

 The two lateral, or in this case more markedly, loicer sepals are oblong, obliipic, 

 pointed, parallel to each other, and cohering along tlieir wh.do length so as, api)a- 

 rently, to fm-m but one oblong-pointed segnu'iit. Petals minute, triangular, fringed. 

 Lip elevated on the up-turned end of the column, much shorter than the lower sepals, 

 3 lobed; lateral lobes small, triangular, acute; middle lobe, oblong with a muero, or 

 point, at tlie end. The colour of the upper sepal is yellow, that of the lip dark purple, 

 and the two lower sepals are blotched with the same colour on a dark yellow ground. 

 It remains to speak of th(! most important part of the flower, the pollen masses. 

 Lindley describes those of his 2[. hnhata, as simply 4, "cohering in one mass." 

 This is verv much as was to be exiiected, judging from the general character of the 

 plant, which is that of a Bidbopliyllum, and it is what 1 was prejiared to find also 

 in my plant. To my great surprise, however, on dissi^ction, I found indce<l the 4 

 poUeu-masses, cohering in one round mass, exactly as described by Lindley, but also, 



