ORCHIDACEiE 



ACORIDIUM SPHACELATUM 



AcoRiDiUM SPHACELATUM, sp. uov. FibrsB radicales crassas, 

 albse. Caules breves, caespitosi, junciformes. Folia linearia, fili- 

 formia, coriacea, pedunculos amplectentia. Bractese marginibus 

 sphacelatis, ante anthesjm distiche imbricatse, persistentes, flores 

 sub-includentes. Flores distichi, parvi, breviter pedicellati. Sepala 

 lateralia ovato-lanceolata, acuta. Petala rhomboideo-spathulata, ad 

 basim attenuata. Labellum ad basim bituberculatum, trilobatum ; 

 lobi laterales parvi, oblongo-falcati ; medius oblongus, apiculatus, 

 deflexus. Columna minutissima, antice apud apicem prominentia 

 tenui truncata. Pollinia 4, per paria cohserentia. 



Roots fibrous, whitish. Plants casspitose, slender, sedge-like. 

 The monophyllous stems minutely pseudobulbous or thickened at 

 base, sheathed basally by imbricate scarious bracts. Leaves linear, 

 filiform, about 3 dm. long, grooved longitudinally when dry, 

 emerging from an elongated tubular bract. Peduncle enclosed by, 

 and appearing to arise from, the leaf, free below. Raceme about 

 6 cm. long. Lowermost bracts of the inflorescence closely imbri- 

 cate, empty. Floral bracts distichous, pentagonal (when spread 

 out), 2.5-3 mm. long, about as broad as long, margin sphacelate. 

 Pedicel and ovary together about 1 mm. long. Flowers about 2.5 

 mm. long. Lateral sepals ovate-lanceolate, acute, about 2.5 mm. 

 long. Upper sepal broader near the summit than below, obtuse. 

 Petals rhomboid-spathulate, slender near the base, cuneate below. 

 Lip 3-lobed, lateral lobes oblong-falcate, longer than the middle 

 lobe ; middle lobe oblong, with a strongly and rigidly deflexed 

 apex, apiculate ; apicule so declined that, from above, the middle 



