DENDROBIUM ORNITHOFLORUM 



Dendrobium (§Grastidium) ornithoflorum sp. nov. Herha 



multum ramosa. Caules teretes, ±6 dm. longi, ascendentes 



vel erecti, graciles. Folia lineari-lanceolata, acuminata, acuta, 



2.5-10 cm. longa, 4-5 mm. lata. Pedunculus 10-12 mm. longus. 



Pedicelli 14 mm. longi. Flores geminati. Sepala later alia tri- 



angulari-lanceolata, acuta, subcaudata, circa 1.6 cm. longa. Se- 



palum doj'sale lineari-lanceolatum, circa 1.6 cm. longum, 3 mm. 



latum. Petala similia, angustiora, 3-nervia. Labellwn ±1.5 cm, 



longum, 3-lobatum ; lobi later ales subacuti, subfalcati ; hhus ter- 



minalis 8 mm. longus, 6 mm. latus, acuminatus, acutus, margine 



serrulate; discus 3-carinatus. 



Philippine Islands : Flowers yellowish white, at 5700 ft. alt. on Mt. Bliss, 

 Province of Misamis, Mindanao, May 25, 1906, Mcyor E. A. Mearns & W. I. 

 Hutchinson (no. 4727). Specimens in herb. Bureau of Science, Manila, and 

 in herb. Ames. 



D. ornithoflorum is a graceful, profusely branched epiphyte of 

 the Grastidium section of the genus Dendrobium, allied with 

 Z). acuminatissimum Lindl. The younger branches are clothed 

 with the closely appressed tubular sheaths formed by the leaves ; 

 the older ones are naked except for the fibrous remains of the 

 withered sheaths at the internodes, are polished yellow, and are 

 rather rigid. From the younger branches the flowers arise in 

 pairs. The peduncle is sheathed at base by a compressed bract. 

 On none of the specimens observed were the flowers open, and 

 it is quite probable that they never widely expand. The median 

 keel on the disc of the labellum extends to the tip of the column 

 foot; near its apex two shorter keels arise, one on each side. All 

 of the keels are somewhat toothed or crenulate near the distal 

 end. Scattered over the upper surface of the labellum minute 



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