38 ORCHIDACE^ 



rium sub labello ventricosum. Capsula globosa, rostello obtuso ter- 

 minata. Herba epiphyta perennis, in Crescentia Cujete non rara. 

 Flores albi, inconspicui. Floret Augusto." — Focke, loc. cit. 



" Epidendrum strohiliferum : aff . Epidendro ramoso Jacq. f oliis 

 abbreviatis ligulatis, bracteis apice retusis (nee acutis), vesicula 

 dimidio ovarii adnata, sepalis ovato-ligulatis acutis, labello cordi- 

 formi abbre^aato, ima basi callis geminis triangulis, gynostemio 

 utrinque unifalcato. 



" Ab Epidendro ramoso Jacq. planta mexicana ac antillana, qua- 

 cum confunditur, diversissimum. Rami ancipites, flexuosi. Va- 

 ginae pulcbre arpophyllaceae. Folia vix ultra pollicaria, duas 

 Hneas tantum longa. Racemus 4- usque 8-florus inflorescentiam 

 Evelyn* graminifolise prope mentiens. Bracteae carinatae flores 

 parvos subaequantes." — Reichenbach, f ., NederL Kruidk. Arch, 

 4 : 333 (1858). 



Plant 3-8 cm. high or more, branching. Stems compressed 

 above, terete or nearly so below, concealed by the greenish or dull 

 purplish sheathing leaf-bases. Leaf blades rigid, slightly carinate 

 with a median purple-madder stripe on the under side, oblong- 

 lanceolate, obtuse, bifid, deep green, all but the uppermost ones 

 twisted so that the surfaces become vertical, 1-3 cm. long, 5-8 

 mm. broad, 2 mm. thick. Flowers two to ten, yellowish- white, in 

 close racemes. Bracts scarious, longer than the ovaries, imbricate, 

 obtuse, strongly nerved, carinate, about 5 mm. long. Sepals 

 oblong-lanceolate, acute, the lateral ones asymmetrical, obscurely 

 falcate, 4 mm. long. Petals linear-spatulate, acute or sub-acute, 

 about as long as the sepals, 3-nerved. Lip ovate-cordate, sub-acu- 

 minate, entire, adnate to the short column by a narrow claw, 

 concave, unicostate, with 2 basal laminse. Column short, with a 

 projecting horn or tooth on each side and two small teeth between 

 them at the back. Anther with two more or less divergent horns, 

 two-celled. PoUinia 4, in pairs. Ovary slender, ventricose beneath 

 the Up and lateral sepals. Fruit an oval capsule. 



Although widely distributed, this species was first discovered 



