LIPARIS SAUNDERSIANA 



Liparis Saundersiana Reichb. f. in Gar^d. Chron. July 27, 

 1872, p. 1003; Ridley in Journ. Linn. Soc. 22: 274 (1886). 



"Minuta, similis Liparidi JVendlandi; pseudobulbo ovato; 

 foliis carnosulis geminis supra vaginam cordato oblongis acutis ; 

 pedunculo longiori trigone; racemo paucifloro, bracteis trian- 

 gulis angustis herbaceis ovaria pedicellata non eequantibus; 

 sepalis triangulo ligulatis, summo trinervi, lateralibus uniner- 

 viis; tepalis lineari-filiformibus uninerviis; labello basi juxta co- 

 lumnam sagittate oblongo apiculato seu obtuso, ciliato seu ecili- 

 ato; columna apice ampliata." — Reichenbach f., loc. cit. 



Plant 5-8 cm. or more high, bifoliate, pseudobulbous. Leaves 

 elliptic-oblong to ovate, one of the pair larger than the other; la- 

 mina ±1.5-2.5 cm. long, ±0.9-2 Qia.vf\diQ\ petiole about 1.5-2 cm. 

 long. Scape winged, much exceeding the leaves, rather slender, 

 naked below. Racemes rather loose, bearing from 6 to 10 or more 

 flowers. Floral bracts lanceolate, acute, about 5 mm. long. Pe- 

 dicel slender, exceeding the bracts, together with the ovary 

 about 7 mm. long. Lateral sepals oblong, 1-nerved, about 5 mm. 

 long. Upper sepal similar to the laterals. Petals linear, obtuse, 

 1-nerved, about 7 mm. long. Labellum ovate-cordate, about 

 7 mm. long, 5 mm. wide. 



Jamaica: Cinchona, at 4900 ft. alt., January 12, 1907, Wm. Harris 

 (no. 9789). 



In dried specimens the pedicels, labellum, and petals have the 

 appearance of having been madder-purple and the sepals green- 

 ish when fresh. Reichenbach suggests that Lipaiis Saundersiana 

 recalls in aspect some species of the Australian genus Cyrto- 

 stylis of R. Brown. It resembles distantly Cyrtostylis reniformis 

 R. Brown. 



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