294 MR. SCOTT Elliot's tropical African orchids. 



base, the tapering blade 7 in. long by h broad, the uppermost 

 shorter (4 in.), and followed by a couple of smaller bracts below the 

 spike (5 in.). Lower flowering-bracts 6 lines long, ovary and stalk 

 I in. Dorsal sepal 3-nerved, 1^ lines long by ^ line broad, lateral 

 If by I ; petals spreading, larger anteriorly, 1^ lines by f line. 

 Lip 1^ lines to end of middle lobe, which is f line broad, the lateral 

 lobes being ^ line ; all are obtuse ; spur 2^ lines long. Stigmatic 

 processes f line. 



Near 7/. microceras Hook, f., from the Cameroons, but dis- 

 tinguished by its long narrow leaves and longer spur. 



HiBENARiA peristyloides A. Rich. in Ann. Scl. Nat. ser. 2, xiv. 

 270. Caule folioso sub spicam parvifioram laxe bracteato, foliis e 

 basi vaginante anguste lanceolatis ; sepalis petalisque iucurvatis, 

 sepalo dorsali oblanceolato-ovali acuto, lateralibus majoribus falcato- 

 ovatis apiculatis, petalis oblanceolatis obtusis, labello piano e basi 

 cordato 3-lobo, lobo medio multo majore ligulato crasso, calcare 

 brevissimo ; processubus stigmaticis parallelis super labelli basin 

 extensis, rostello magno sub antherse loculos divergeutes patente ; 

 glandulis nudis extrusis. 



Hab. Sunny hillsides, Euwenzori, 6-7000 ft.. No. 7646. 



Distrib. Abyssinia. 



Lower portion of plant absent ; the longest leaf has a sheath of 

 If in., with a blade of more than 4 in. ; the upper leaves are 

 shorter ; a few acuminate sterile bracts precede the spike, which in 

 the larger specimen is 4^ in. long. The lanceolate-acuminate 

 bracts are f in. in the lower part of the spike, and exceed the 

 flowers in length. The 3-nerved dorsal sepal is hardly 2 lines long 

 by 1 broad, the 5-nerved lateral ones are 2^ by 1^ lines ; the obtuse 

 sometimes subapiculate petals are slightly shorter than the dorsal 

 sepal, and 1 line broad. The lip is 3;^ lines long, the large central 

 lobe 2^ lines by f line, the small narrower lateral ones only 1 line 

 long ; the spur is less than 1 line long, and shorter than the base 

 of the lip. The stigmatic processes are subclavate in outline, 

 shallowly canaliculate above, convex beneath, resting on the base 

 of the lip, and f line long. The rostellum is large and spreading ; 

 the anther-cells are not elongated into canals. The ovary, with its 

 short stalk, is 4-5 lines long. 



The Abyssinian H. imistijloidcs Eich. is known only from the 

 description and floral analysis in Ann. Sci. Nat. ser. 2, xiv. p. 270, 

 t. 17, fig. iii., and description in the same author's Tentam. Fl. 

 Abyss, ii. 291. Richard figures stigmatic processes precisely similar 

 to those of the Euwenzori plant in the same position, but makes 

 the spur longer than the auricled base of the lip, and the median 

 lobe of the latter too narrow ; the leaves are also described as oval- 

 lanceolate. 



Richard's observations apply equally well to either plant ; as 

 he says, they combine the characters of the two genera llahenaria 

 and Peristi/liis, having the conniveut almost galeate sepals and 

 petals, the thick lip, and short spur of the latter, and at the same 

 time the two fleshy appendices originating in the lower stigmatic 

 region, which constitute the diagnostic character of the genus 



