TWO ORCHIDS FROM HAITI 
BY 
Louis O. WILLIAMS 
Mr. L. R. HouprinGe, a keen collector of the flora 
of Haiti, has communicated the two orchids mentioned 
below, along with an excellent collection of others. 
Lepanthes purpurata L. O. Williams sp. nov. 
Herbae parvae, caespitosae, epiphyticae, usque ad ca. 
5.5 em. altae. Folia late elliptica, ovata vel late ovata, 
obtusa vel breviter acuminata. Sepalum dorsale lanceo- 
latum vel triangulari-lanceolatum, acuminatum. Petala 
bilobata. Labellum trulliforme, emarginatum, obtusum, 
basi auriculatum. 
Small, caespitose, epiphytic herbs up to about 5.5 cm. 
tall. Secondary stems up to about 3.5 cm. long, slender, 
with three to five infundibuliform sheaths which disinte- 
grate with age, the sheaths with several prominent nerves 
which are hispid-pubescent. Leaves 1—2.2 cm. long and 
0.5-1.2 cm. broad, broadly elliptic to ovate or broadly 
ovate, obtuse to shortly acuminate, subciliate, contracted 
into a very short petiole at the base. Inflorescence con- 
sisting of one or more short, distichous, few-flowered ra- 
cemes, shorter than the subtending leaves. Sepals shortly 
connate at their bases. Dorsal sepal 4.5-5 mm. long and 
2-3 mm. broad, lanceolate to triangular-lanceolate, acu- 
minate, 3-nerved. Lateral sepals 4-4.5 mm. long and 
1.5-2.5 mm. broad, broadly lanceolate to ovate-lanceo- 
late, acuminate, connate to the middle. Petals bilobed, 
the lobes transverse, about 0.5 mm. long and 3.5 mm. 
broad; anterior lobe linear-oblong, obtuse, about 1.5 
mm. broad; posterior lobe similar to the anterior, about 
2 mm. broad, subsigmoid. Lip about 1.2 mm. long and 
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