A NEW BLETIA 
FROM SPANISH HONDURAS 
BY 
OAKES AMES 
AMONG recent collections made by J. B. Edwards in 
Spanish Honduras, a new species of Bletia has been re- 
cognized. It is without close allies and differs from all 
other Central American components of the genus in hav- 
ing the disc of the labellum closely beset with papilliform 
emergences below the base of the middle lobe. The fol- 
lowing description was prepared with the aid of flowers 
preserved in alcohol. 
Bletia papillifera 4 mes sp. nov. Cormus depresso- 
subglobosus vel pyriformis, vaginis pluribus scariosis ves- 
titus. Folia lineari-lanceolata, acuta, nervosa. Scapus 
erectus, elongatus, gracilis, pauciflorus. Sepala lateralia 
oblonga, acuta. Sepalum dorsale simile. Petala anguste 
oblongo-elliptica, obtusa, nervosa. Labellum supra me- 
dium trilobatum; lobi laterales erecti, triangulares, ob- 
tusi; lobus medius obcordatus, leviter carinatus, carinis 
crassiusculis; discus papillifer. Columna vix in pedem 
producta, elongata, prope apicem anguste bialata, prope 
basim utrinque lobata. 
Roots coarsely fibrous, whitish, smooth, suleate lon- 
gitudinally when dry, up to 7 em. long, about 2 mm. in 
diameter. Corm globular or pyriform, 2—2.5 em. long, 
covered with the fibrous remains of closely appressed 
sheaths. Leaves 12-20 em. long, 5-17 mm. wide, one or 
two in number, much shorter than the flower-scape, lin- 
ear-lanceolate, acute, tapering to a narrow sulcate base. 
Scape erect, about 40 cm. long, slender, about 2 mm. in 
diameter, with several closely appressed scarious sheaths. 
Flowers two to four, secund, whitish tinged with crim- 
[5] 
