ORCHIDACE^ 41 



DENDROBIUM MICHOLITZII 



Dendrobium Micholitzii, Rolfe ex Ames, Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 



17: 119(1904). 



" Densely tufted ; pseudobulbs erect, slender at the base, some- 

 what thickened upwards and quadrangular, 3-4 inches long, diphyl- 

 lous at the apex ; leaves oblong or ovate-oblong, obtuse, coria- 

 ceous, 1^-21 inches long ; flowers terminal, several, from the axils 

 of a cluster of imbricating oblong bracts, creamy yellow with a 

 greenish orange blotch on the lip, sometimes with purple veins on 

 the flower ; pedicels slender, 8-10 lines long ; dorsal sepal oblong- 

 lanceolate, acute, 2| lines long; lateral pair triangular, acute, 

 prolonged behind into a stout obtuse somewhat curved mentum 

 4|-6 lines long ; petals linear, acute, 2| lines long ; lip 5-6 lines 

 long, the basal part oblong and somewhat curved, the apex dilated 

 into an obovate obtuse limb, bearing a small oblong crest in the 

 centre ; column stout, scarcely over ^ line long. — German New 

 Guinea, MichoHtz. 



*^ An interesting addition to the small section Bolhodium, allied 

 to I), pumilum Roxb., but far larger in all its parts, and the 

 pseudobulbs distinctly quadrangular upwards, as in the Burmese 

 D. quadr angular e Parish, which, however, has smaller flowers 

 and a proportionately shorter mentum. The remaining species is 

 the Philippine D. hymenanthiim Rchb. f . Type in herbarium of 

 the Ames Botanical Laboratory." 



This Dendrobium was discovered by W. Micholitz anterior to 

 1899 ; and although it is highly probable that he sent living plants 

 to England, the species seems never to have been successfully cul- 

 tivated. The plant on which Mr. Rolfe based his description was 

 among dried specimens which Micholitz sent to F. Sander & Co. 

 of St. Albans, England, commercial dealers in horticultural orchids. 



