NOTES ON THE FAMILY CORSIACEAE' 
BY 
Louts O. WILLIAMS 
‘THE CorsiaACEAE is asmall family of saprophytic herbs 
similar in appearance to the Orchidaceae. Although rare, 
specimens are occasionally included in collections of or- 
chids sent in for determination. The family is more close- 
ly allied to the Burmanniaceae and Thismiaceae than to 
the Orchidaceae and, like them, is included in the Bur- 
manniales. 
The two genera which comprise the Corsiaceae are of 
special interest because of their distribution. Corsza, with 
nine species, seems to be limited to the island of New 
Guinea, while Arachnitis, with a single species, is found 
in Chile and Argentina. 
Corsia Beceari 
Corsia Beccari Malesia 1 (1878) 288, t. 9. 
The genus Corsia was not ascribed to any family by 
Beecari when he described it. Bentham and Hooker, in 
their Genera Plantarum, placed the genus in the Bur- 
manniaceae; Engler, in Die natiirlichen Pflanzenfamil- 
ien, placed it in the same family. Rudolf Schlechter 
seems to have been the first to give Corsia and Arach- 
nitis family rank. Schlechter’s treatment was apparently 
followed by Jonker, the monographer of the Burmanni- 
aceae, who excluded both the genera from that family. 
The new species of Corsia described below were in- 
cluded in collections of orchids from New Guinea. 
Corsia purpurata L. O. Williams sp. nov. 
Herbae saprophyticae, erectae, efoliosae, perennes, 
usque ad ca. 15 cm. altae. Inflorescentia uniflora. Sepala 
lateralia et petala similia vel petala minora, lanceolata vel 
‘Botanical Results of the Archbold Expeditions. 
[179 ] 
