1 40 OrchidecB. {Microstylis. 



Stem very short; 1. few, i|-2| in., linear or lanceolate, 

 acuminate; ped. i^ in,, filiform, crinite with filiform hyaline 

 spreading empty bracts \ in, long ; raceme about as long as 

 the scape, slender, erect or curved; fl. whorled, pedicelled, 

 much shorter than the incurved bracts; dorsal sep. lanceolate, 

 acuminate, lateral larger, orbicular; pet. much larger than the 

 Sep., falcately linear-lanceolate, acuminate, ciliate, spreading; 

 lip very small, side lobes linear, erect, parallel, much smaller 

 than the pet, mid lobe broadly semi-lunate, ciliate, very much 

 smaller than the lateral sep. 



Montane zone 4-6000 ft. ; Maturata ; Elephant Plains ; E. Matale ; 

 Hunasgiriya. Jan.-May; deep pink, and of a very extraordinary 

 appearance. 



Endemic. 



2. BIICROSTYZiZS, Nutt. 



Terrestrial or epiphytic herbs, some of them sometimes 



pseudobulbous; 1. not articulate with the sheath, broad, 



membranous, plicate, 5-7-nerved; fl. small, in terminal 



peduncled racemes or spikes, resupinate; ov. not twisted; 



perianth widely spreading; lateral sep. linear or oblong, 



usually broader and shorter than the dorsal, often dcflexed 



under the lip; pet. as long, narrower, spreading; lip adnate to 



the base of the column, superior, short, broad, entire or 



pectinate; column short, often constricted in the middle; 



anth. terminal, incumbent ; poUinia 4, ovoid or obovoid, waxy. 



— Sp, about 50; 22 in Fl. B. Ind. 



Base oflipbiauricled i. M. purpurea. 



Base of lip not biauricled. 



Lip not deeply toothed or pectinate. 



Lip quite entire a. M. discolor. 



Lip 3-crenate at tip 3- M. congesta. 



Lip deeply toothed or pectinate. 

 Stem elongate. 



Arms of column short or o . . . .4. M. Rheedii. 

 Arms of column speading .... 5. M. versicolor. 

 Stem very short or o 6. M. LANCIFOLIA. 



1. BX. purpurea, IJndl. Gen. and Sp. Orch. 20 (1830). 

 Thw. Knum. 297, 429. Ridley in Journ. Linn. Soc. xxiv. 540. C. P. 

 3768. 



Fl. B. Ind. V. 687. 



Stem 3-4 in., stout, base pseudobulbous; 1. 4-6, pctioled, 

 3-4 in. long, oval to suborbicular, acute or acuminate, 5-6- 

 veined, base very unequal; ped. 6-10 in., with many rcfiexed 

 bracts, many-fld.; bracts as long as or shorter than the ov., 

 deflexcd ; fl. \ in. from dorsal sep. to tip of lip, dorsal sep. 



