20'J 



THREE NEW SPECIES OF ORCHID. 



By R. S. Rogers, M.A., M.D. 



[Read October 1, 1907.] 



Plate XXVI. 



Diuris palachila, .si>. nuc. 



This species has long been familiar to members of the 

 Field Naturalists' Section of the Royal Society, under the 

 name of Dniru intcrtncdia, but has never been described, 

 owing to the opinion which seemed to prevail in the Section 

 that it was a hybrid. It is, however, a distinct and well- 

 marked form, appearing regularly in considerable numbers 

 in certain localities. The earliest date on which I have col- 

 lected it is September 10, at Blackwood. I have also re- 

 corded it from Port Victor, Belair, Black Hill, Gaudy's Gully, 

 Barossa, and other parts of the State. The name inttrmedia 

 was applied to it, because it was supposed to occupy an in- 

 termediate position between D. macuiata and D. pedunculata. 

 Its nearest ally is, however, D. setacea, a western species, and 

 I have, therefore, thought it inadvisable to perpetuate a name 

 founded on a misapprehension. I have called it D. palachila, 

 owing to the spacle-shaped form of the central lobe of the 

 labellum. 



riant varies from 4 to 15 inches high. 



Leaves narrow-linear to linear, often 7 inches long. A 

 bract subtends the pedicel of each flower, and two or more 

 long, closely-sheathing bracts are to be found on the stem. 



Flowers. — 1-3 on fairly long pedicels. Lateral sepals 

 green, linear-acuminate, about same length as lateral petals, 

 with a tendency to cross as in D. macuiata. Dorsal sepal 

 more or less ovate, closely embracing the column below, about 

 same length as labellum ; yellow, generally with reddish- 

 brown or purplish blotchings or dots showing chiefly on the 

 outer surface, near the base and around the margins. Late- 

 ral petals elliptical, markedly stalked, yellow, or with mark- 

 ings of similar colour and disposition as in the case of dorsal 

 sepal. 



Labellum. — 3-partite, the clefts between the lobes not 

 reaching to within less than a line of the base. Lateral lobes 

 rather more than half as long as central lobe, triangular, and 

 usually dentate on outer margin. Central lobe spade- or 

 shovel-shaped ; entire margin ; two widely-separated, raised, 

 longitudinal lines on its stalk, fusing on the lamina into a 

 single well-marked raised line, which extends to the apex. 



