Vanda.] OrcJiidcce. 1 93 



fleshy ridges, spur (base of funnel) short, conical, obtuse; 

 column very short; pollinia oval or subglobose, strap very 

 short, broad, gland large; fr. 3-3! in., narrowly clavate, ribs 

 acute, pedicel very short. 



Dry region, on trees ; rather common. Jafifna ; Batticaloa ; Anurad- 

 hapura ; Maradankadawala, abundant ; Puttalam. Fl. March-August ; 

 sep. and pet. pale bufif or grey tessellated with brown lines, margins white ; 

 lip greyish-blue, dotted with purple. 



Peninsular India, Bengal, Burma. 



A beautiful sweet-scented Orchid, the colouring of the flowers very 

 unusual in the family. 



3. V. Thwaitesii, Hook. f. (nov. sp.) 



Aerides tessellatum, Thw. Enum. 305 (non Wight). C, P. 3378. 



Stem 6-12 in., as thick as the little finger; lower inter- 

 nodes covered with short brown coriaceous sheaths; 1. 3-4 in. 

 long, falcately recurved, complicate, thickly coriaceous, tip 

 2-fid., sheaths closely imbricating; raceme with the stout ped. 

 4 in., green, 2-3-fld. ; bracts very small, pedicel with ov. i in. ; 

 fl. \\ in. broad, sep. very obtuse, dorsal obovate-oblong, lateral 

 larger, orbicular-obovate ; pet. as large as the dorsal sep., 

 obovate-oblong; lip shorter than the sep., sessile on the base 

 of the column, funnel-shaped, side lobes small, erect, mid lobe 

 broadly ovate, tip retuse or 2-lobulate, spur (base of funnel) 

 shorter than the lobes, straight, acute; column short, stout, 

 rostellum truncate; anth. depressed, 2-celled, pollinia 2, 

 obovoid, sulcate, strap short, subulate, gland large, orbicular. 



Hunasgiria District (Alwis). Fl.; yellow-green, streaked and spotted 

 with red, lip white or pale yellow. 



Endemic. 



Of this fine species there are two drawings by Alwis in the Peradeniya 

 Collection, from one of which the description by Thwaites in his 

 'Enumeratio' was taken. There are no specimens in the Herbarium. 



4. V. spathulata, Spren^. Syst. Veg. iii. 719 (1826). 

 Cynibidiian spathu/atuin, Moon, Cat. 60. Thw. Enum. 303. C. P. 2345. 

 Fl. B. Ind. vi. 50. Wight, Ic. t. 915. 



Stem about i ft., leafy, thicker than a swan's quill, rooting 

 upwards; roots very stout, vermiform ; internodes i in., green; 

 1. 2-4 by i\-\\ in., lorate, keeled, recurved, flat, tip rounded 

 emarginate or 2-lobed, lower 1. sometimes smaller, ovate, 

 sheath green, speckled with red; ped. from the middle or 

 lower nodes, 12-18 in., erect, robust, with a few distant short, 

 acute sheaths, green, speckled with red; raceme terminal, 

 4-5-fld., rhachis stout, bracts broadly ovate, acuminate, pedicel 

 with ov. i-i| in., fl. i\-i\ in. broad; sep. and pet. obovate- 

 oblong, tips rounded; lip longer than the sep., side lobes 

 small, oblong, erect, mid lobe much larger, shortly clawed, 

 triangular-ovate, tip contracted, obtuse, spur very short, 



PART IV. O 



