EPIPOGONE^—EPIPOGON 117 



I. Epipogon aphyllum Swartz 



PL 21; PI. E, fig. 5 (p. 108) 



Spurred Coral-root, Banana Orchid (German name) 



Rhizome without roots, whitish, much branched, resembling coral, branches very 

 short, forked or tri-lobed, lobes rounded at apex, often spreading in a fan like an 

 elk's horn. It sends out one or two long (5-7 cm.) thread-Uke sinuous whitish runners, 

 with buds at intervals (protected by semi-transparent scales) which give rise to new 

 rhizomes.' It is small in proportion to the flowering stem, which is much swollen 

 above its junction with it. A specimen dug up by me at Pralognan, Savoie, grew in 

 a Uttle nest of 6 or 7 small rhizomes. One had two new incipient shoots (PI. 21, fig. 3). 

 Stem up to 20 cm. tall, rarely more, semi-translucent, white, tinged with dull rose 

 or pinkish brown, with numerous short pale rose dashes, sinuous, frail, slightly 

 hollow and tensely full of liquid, much swollen at the base (where there is a cavity 

 for water-storage), tapering suddenly to the rhizome, the attachment sometimes so 

 weak that it falls down if the layer of decayed leaves is gently removed. There are 

 2-3 yellowish or brownish short sheaths at the base, and 1-2 long close-fitting sheaths 

 on the stem, usually dark-edged, according to Barla sometimes open and funnel- 

 shaped.2 Flowers (1-7) usually only 2-4, distant, large, hanging on a slender stalk, 

 of remarkable appearance, upside down, the mid-lobe of the lip and spur uppermost, 

 the sepals and petals pointing downwards, yellowish, more or less tinged with rose; 

 the thick inverted spur and the heart-shaped deeply concave lip with its dark rose 

 tubercled ridges giving a rather uncanny appearance. The scent is said to resemble 

 that of a banana or the orchid Stanhopea. Bracts oblong or rhomboidal, obtuse, 

 membranous, semi-transparent, 3 -nerved, or without nerves, sheathing the whole 

 bud except the spur. Ovary ovoid, short, thick, yellowish, streaked or spotted with 

 violet, without hairs, stalk short, ± 5 mm., curved. Sepals long, linear, trough-like 

 through incurved edges, yellowish, sometimes tinged red. Petals twice as broad, 

 lanceolate obtuse, trough-like, yellowish with a few short violet lines, semi-transparent 

 and curving downwards like the sepals. Lip bent back sharply in the middle so that the 

 back of the epichile (apical half) nearly touches the spur, both pointing obliquely 

 upwards. HypochUe (basal half) with two short rounded lobes directed forwards. 

 Epichile heart-shaped, rather pointed, very concave, with eroded or entire edges, 

 white with violet spots, with irregularly tubercled violet-tinged crests, maldng it 

 deeply channelled down the middle. Spur erect, ± 8 mm. long by 4 mm. thick, 

 wide, sack-shaped, rounded, white tinged with yellow, sometimes hlac or reddisli,^ 



' Kerner, Pflan^enkben (English translation), 11, iii (1897). 



^ Icon. Orch. Alpes Maritiwes, PI. 11. 3 A. and G. Sjii. in, 881. 



