678 CXXV. OnCHlDACE.E. 



adnate to the base of the column, usually flat, the basal lobes large, 

 sagittate, and produced upwards ; or cup-shaped with small lobes or 

 without basal lobes, the apex euiargiuate, 2-3-lobed, erose or entire. 

 Column usually very short with 2 spreading arms ; anther subtermiual, 

 2-celled ; poUinia 4, ovoid or obovoid, waxy. — Disteib. Species about 

 70, chiefly in Tropical Asia and America. 



1. Microstylis versicolor, Lindl. Gen. ^- Sp. OrcMd. (1830) 

 p. 21 {not of Wight). Stem 3-6 in. high, slender or robust, stolo- 

 niferous, bearing numerous acute sheaths, base swollen or not. Leaves 

 usually drying yellowish-brown, thinly membranous, petiolate, 2^-7 by 

 11-3 in., broadly ovate or elliptic, acute or acuminate, plaited, silvery 

 or purplish beneath, 5-7-nerved, decurrent into a sheathing petiole 

 |-3 in. long, base usually unequal-sided. Scape with raceme 6-12 in. 

 long ; bracts lanceolate, deflexed, about as long as the flowers. Plowers 

 fragrant, g-^ in. broad, green, yellow, or purple, in slender racemes. 

 Sepals broadly ovate, obtuse, concave, 1-nerved, the dorsal longest and 

 narrowest. Petals narrowly linear, subobtuse. Lip broader than long, 

 rounded, reniform or fan-shaped, pectinate. Column somewhat con- 

 stricted in the middle, truncate ; arms short or 0. Fruit | in. long, 

 clavate- oblong, erect, shortly pedicellate. Jackson, Index Kewen. v. 3 

 (1895) p. 234. Microsti/lis 'EJieedei, Wight, Icon. v. 3 (1843-45) part 2, 

 p. 9, t. 002. Hook. f. n. B. I. V. 5, p. 600 ; Dalz. & Gibs. p. 260 

 (exclad. sijn.); Hook. f. Icon. PI. t. 1832; Trim. Fl. Ceyl. v. 4, p. 141 ; 

 AVoodr. in Journ. Bomb. Nat. v. 12 (1809) p. 518; Prain, Beng. PI. 

 p. 1004 ; Gammie, in Journ. Bomb. Nat. v. 16, part 4 (1005) p. 505. 

 Malaxis Eheedei, Heyne, ex Wall. Cat. (1828) sub n. 1930 ; Grab. Cat. 

 p. 202. — Flowers : June- Aug. 



Lindley's specific name versicolor is more than 13 years prior to 

 Wight's name liheedei. 



Common on the Ghats. Konkan : Law !, Sfocks ! Deccan : Khandala, Cookr I ; 

 Mahablcsliwar, Cuoke\, Woodrow, H. M. Birdwood ; Koina Valley below Mahableslnvar, 

 common, Cooke ! Kanara : Laiv ! — Distrib. India (Chota Nagpur, W. Peninsula) ; 

 Ceylon. 



3. LIPARIS, Eich. 



Terrestrial or epiphytic herbs (terrestrial in the Bombay species), 

 pseudobulbous or not. Leaves 1 or more, membranous or coriaceous, 

 continuous with the sheath, or thickened and jointed at tlie base. 

 Flowers small, in terminal racemes, resupinate or not. Sepals spi-eadiug 

 or recurved, the margins usually revolute. Petals as long as the sepals, 

 but much narrower. Lip adnate to the base of the column, usually 

 broad, flat or deflexed from the middle, sometimes concave, often with 

 calli near the base. Column elongate, often arched, usually winged 

 near the apex and tumid or dilated and comju-essed at the base ; anther 

 terminal ; jiollinia 4. — DiSTiuu. Species about 120, in temperate and 

 tropical regions, most numerous in India. 



1, Liparis nervosa, Lindl. Gen. 4' '^2^- Orchid. (1830) p. 26. 

 Terrestrial, 6-15 in. high. Pseudobulbs ofteii present, ovoid. Stem 

 2-5 in. long, slightly bulbous at the base, bearing several sheaths. 

 Leaves 2 or 3, alternate, sessile, sheathing, 2j-5 by f-l-^, elhptic- 



