THE mOlJLEM OF THE 13ETTTSn MAIISIF OI^CTTTBS 287 



14. Leaves heavily sjoottcd witli ringed spots ; llowers large, dark 

 rod- violet. 



15. Very robust, 14 cm. tall, spike 13 cm., very leafy, leaves 

 erect, slightly spreading; pi-obably the vai\ foliosa of Continental 

 authors, but only due, 1 think, to exceptionally favourable conditions ; 

 it has nothing to do with the Madeiran O. foliosa. Leaves 2U-28 cm. 

 long, 8| to 51 cm. broad, firm, fiat at tip, with sparse minute spots 

 on apical half only. Bracts (5| cm. x 9 mm.) much exceeding 

 (lowers, spike comose. Flowers red-pur])le, throat wide whitish, 

 sepals unspotted, lip broader than long (18x11 mm.), spur conical. 

 This plant grew on the side of an irrigation canal where water trickled 

 down. 



The following bore a considerable resemblance to O. iircdtermissa 

 Druce : — 



16. Flowers pale lilac, lip flat, entirely covered with markings and 

 dots ; leaves with small sparse spots on apical half only. 



17. Flowers delicate mauve, lip flat, covered with rows of tiny 

 dots radiating in a fan, very like those of pr(Btermissa ; leaves un- 

 spotted, except for a few tin}^ spots at the tip of one leaf. 



18. -Flov.^ers large, pale mauve ; spur nearly white, short, conical, 

 almost saccate, but in upper flov/ers more cylindrical and half as long 

 as ovarj^ Leaves unspotted. 



19. Flowers darker, red-lilac, leaves unspotted. 



To sum up: — The leaves varied from elliptical-oblong (28 x 5^ cm.), 

 to broadly ovate-lanceolate (lOxS'S cm.), with the majority of inter- 

 mediate dimensions (12-15 cm. long by 2^ to 8 cm. broad), oblong- 

 lanceolate to lanceolate. The spots varied (1) in amount, from dense 

 to very sj^arse, soinetim.es covering the whole leaf, sometimes entirely'" 

 confined to the apical half, sometimes restricted to a very few isolated 

 spots near the tip; (2) in shape and size, e.(j. large elliptical trans- 

 verse spots, usually solid, not infrequently ringed, small circular 

 spots, and minute almost imperceptible spots ; (8) in depth of colour, 

 sometimes dark and conspicuous, often faint, occasionally almost 

 reaching vanishing point; but the leaves were practically alwa^^s 

 spotted. The flowers varied in colour from mauve or pale lilac to 

 dark purple-red, with many intermediate shades. Two or three 

 plants at Thorenc had pink flowers. Sometimes the central area 

 of the lip within the markings is much paler, or even nearly white. 

 The pattern of the markings varied very little except in depth of 

 colour, in fact it was rem^arkabty uniform, consisting of two parallel 

 longitudinal loops, one on each side of the lip, formed of continuous 

 lines, often with a smaller more or le^s imperfect loop within the 

 larger ones, and not infrequently supplemented by small or irregular 

 spots outside the area enclosed by the loops. The lip is at first nearly 

 flat, later the sides slope gradually downwards, and sometimes become 

 decidedly reflexed, but occasionally fully opened spikes can be found 

 in which even in the lowest flowers the sides only slope quite gently 

 downwards. The mid-lobe is small, triangular and often tooth-like, 

 hardly longer than the side-lol)es ; in one spike it was tongue-shaped 

 and i mm. lon^, but this was due to the incision between it and the 

 side-lobes being deeper. The sepals are usually, but by no means 



