44 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



The dissepiment of the ovulary or fruit could not be traced 

 from the specimens available ; should it not pass through the 

 whole width of the cavity, then it will become necessary to 

 transfer this plant to Gardenia. In some respects it reminds of 

 Coffea benghalensis, the stigmas of which are elliptic also. 



Prasophyllum Dixoni. 



Comparatively dwarf, leafless at the time of flowering, except a 

 rudimentary leaf close to the spike ; tuber roundish, somewhat 

 compressed ; flowers in the spike few, very small, closely together, 

 pale yellowish-green, recurved ; bracts almost semi-lanceolar, 

 acuminate, somewhat shorter than the calyx-tube ; unpaired calyx- 

 lobe ovate-lanceolar, concave, as long as the paired petals and 

 hardly by about one-third shorter than the labellum and paired 

 calyx-lobes, the latter lanceolar, connate near their broadish 

 rath r bulging bases ; paired petals ovate-lanceolar, finely short- 

 poin ed ; labellum suddenly short- and broad-stipitate, ovate- 

 cuneate, hardly apiculate, fringeless though imperfectly and faintly 

 ciliolar-denticulated toward the summit and there somewhat red- 

 edged, towards the base slightly two-ridged ; lobes of the gynos- 

 temium very short, glabrous bifid ; fruit obliquely cylindric- 

 ellipsoid. 



Near Kardinia-Creek ; Ch. French jun. and J. E. Dixon. 



As yet only two specimens found, and so far as this material 

 allows to judge not really indentifiable with any described species. 

 According however to figures in Mr. Robt. Fitzgerald's splendid 

 work on " Australian Orchids," the plant just now discovered 

 here as one of our earliest flowering in the season, differs from 

 P. viride in the stem being more slender, the paired calyx-lobes 

 less bulging, in the labellum rather truncate than distinctly 

 bilobed at the base, the stipes shorter, also in throughout greenish 

 colour of all floral parts ; in this latter respect the new Victorian 

 plant is still more unlike P. ansatum, although as regards floral 

 structure it is evidently a near ally ; but the apex of the paired 

 calyx-lobes and petals is devoid of a glandule, whilst the labellum 

 is not callously thickened towards the summit, but towards the 

 base, nor is it glandular enlarged at the edge near the middle. 

 Our plant flowers in April and May, so that at such time it may 

 easily elude detection. 



May, 1892. 



