28. iERiDEs.] 159. ORCHID AC E.^. 



pollinia 2, globose, sulcate, caudicle strap-shaped long or short, 

 gland large or small. 



A. Side-lobes of lip veiy small, midlobe large : — 



Spiir short straight 1. multifiorum. 



Spur rmcinately incurved . . . . . .2. maciaosum, 



B. Midlobe of lip incurved between the much larger side-lobes . 3. odoratum. 



1. IE. multifiorum, Roxb. 



A rather stout orchid with stems 4-10" long clothed with deeply 

 channelled and keeled imbricate emarginate or 2-lobed leaves 6-8" 

 long and with copious long axillary racemes of pink or rose-purple 

 flowers • 75-1 • 2" diam. Sepals and petals subequal rounded oblong, 

 lip twice as long, sides recurved, midlobe hastately ovate or triangular 

 with rounded angles, spur one-fourth as long as the midlobe, pointing 

 forwards under it, with an incurved fleshy 2-lobed callus on the base 

 of the midlobe. 



Manbhum, Campbell ! Sarguja, Cardon ! Santal Parganahs, Chattarjee ! 

 Occurs also in the Sikkim Tarai and probably in Purneah. Fl. May-June. 



Kacemes 6-] 2", rarely branched (F.B.I.), shortly peduncled. Flowers some- 

 times spotted with darker purple. Midlobe of lip (according to my field notes) 

 large spreading ovate-rhomboid, clawed, the side-lobes being insignificant and 

 appearing as wings to the foot of the column ; base of lip thick and with a retrorse 

 callus pointing across the mouth of the rectangularly bent spur. Capsule -5-2" 

 subclavate, -6" (ripe?) long, sharply 3-keeled and with smaller ridges between, 

 contracted into a stout pedicel • 25- ■ 35" long. 



2. M. maculosum, Lindl. 



Stems shorter than in multifiorum, leaves more flat and racemes 

 more often branched, flowers larger but very variable in size, pale 

 spotted with darker purple, midlobe of lip ovate, tip broad, bright rose, 

 obtuse or retuse, margins undulate, spur longer and more slender 

 than in multifiorum, uncinately incurved. 



Said to occur in Chota Nagpur {Beng. FL), but I do not know on what grounds. 

 I can find no specimens from our province. 



The description is from the F.B.I. Capsules narrower and more elongate than 

 in jE. laultiflornin. 



3. M, odoratum. Lour. 



Stem and roots stout, stems attain 12-18" (in the Tarai, less in 

 Chota Nagpur) Avith leaves 6-10" by '75-1-75", thickly coriaceous, 

 2-lobed, lorate, keeled. Flowers •75-- 8" diam. in dense racemes 

 9-12" long, white with rose-purple at the tips of the perianth segments, 

 lateral sepals larger than the dorsal and petals, lip with rose-coloured 

 midlobe and upcurved mottled pink spur longer than the sepals, claw 

 of lip long continuous with the produced foot of the column rose- 

 coloured, side-lobes erect, white, embracing the small midlobe, which is 

 oblong-lanceolate, entire or erose. 



Jalpaigiui district and Sikkim Tarai and therefore probably Purneah ! Sing- 

 bhum ! Fl. May. Often cultivated ! 



Lobes of leaf rounded. Peduncle stout and rhachis stout, bracts brown, per- 

 sistent, pedicel with ovary 1" long. Flowers sweet-scented about 1" in length 

 (excluding the ovary), sepals and petals broadly oblong-obovate and rounded, 

 upturned tip of spur sometimes green (in a cultivated specimen), spur- hollow with 

 a 2-fid gland in the throat at base of mid-lobe. Anther obtuse (F.B.I.) or beaked 

 (according to my notes I). Capsule 1-1 • 5" oblong clavate with obtuse angles {F.B.I. ) 

 tapering into a pedicel • -4" long. 



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