248 ORCHIDACEM 



the perianth are adherent as in Microtatorchis pusilla Schltr., 

 though not united for so much of their length, while the bract- 

 like processes on the peduncle, though somewhat unlike those in 

 Geissanthera, certainly suggest that genus, as do the leaves of the 

 contracted stem. The same difficulty has been experienced in 

 assigning this plant to its proper genus among the segregates 

 of Tseniophyllum which it seems must always occur where minute 

 distinctions are relied on in the conception of generic limitations 

 among plants ; therefore it has been deemed best to retain this 

 new Philippine species in the genus Tseniophyllum. The number 

 of the pollinia is perhaps the most salient character on which Dr. 

 Schlechter depends in establishing the genera Microtatorchis and 

 Geissanthera, but this character is often most difficult to observe, 

 while in herbarium specimens it is likely to be lost. T. compac- 

 ts a possesses 2 pollinia, which number removes it from the genus 

 Tseniophyllum, if Dr. Schlechter' s views are adopted, and places 

 it in either Microtatorchis or Geissanthera ; a proceeding which it 

 seems to me would be warranted only after a more exhaustive study 

 of the thirty or more species of Tseniophyllum than has yet been 

 attempted. 



T. PHILIPPINENSE Reichb. f. Otia bot. Hamb. 53 (1878) ; 

 Xen. Orch. 3 : 29 ; Naves Nov. App. 237. 



" Radicibus linearibus longissimis lsevissimis, pedunculis capil- 

 laribus, bracteis ancipiti triangulis abbreviatis bipectinato positis, 

 sepalis ligulatis obtusis, tepalis subsequalibus, labello cuneato has- 

 tato, triangulo, calcari sepalis longiori ovarium pedicellatum sub- 

 sequante. — Ab affini Tamiophyllo obtuso Bl. ! calcari longo bene 

 recedit. Caldera Mindanao (etiam Philipp. ins. Cuming ! Wal- 

 lis !)." — Reichenbach f., Otia bot. Hamb. I. c. 



Roots very long, ± 2 dm. long, slender, about 1 mm. in diame- 

 ter, numerous. Stem short. Peduncle ± 4 cm. long, capillary. 

 Bracts of the inflorescence rigid, distichous, ± 1 mm. long, acute. 

 Raceme 5-7 mm. long. Pedicels longer than the bracts, 2 mm. 



