Fteroglossaspis.} cxxxiii. oechide^ (rolfe). 99 



12. FTEROGLOSSASPIS, Reichb. f. ; Benth. et Hook. f. 

 Gen. PI. iii. 542. 



Sepals and petals free, spreading, subequal. Lip sessile at the base 

 of the column, spreading, trilobed, ecalcarate; side lobes somewhat 

 spreading at the base, inflexed above ; front lobe larger, oblong or sub- 

 orbicular; disc with three rows of tuberculate nerves and a pair of 

 rounded calli in the angle formed by the base of the lip and column. 

 Column very short and broad, without a foot; clinandrium rounded. 

 Anther terminal, operculate, incumbent, 1 -celled; pollinia 2, sub- 

 globose, or 4 confluent in pairs, affixed to a short, broad stipes and 

 squamiform gland. — Terrestrial herbs, with thickened rhizome. Leaves 

 one or two, petiolate, narrow, plicate. Scapes erect, with membranous 

 sheaths below. Flowers medium-sized, in short dense racemes. Bracts 

 small or narrow. 



An endemic Tropical African genus of four species, nearly allied to JEulophia, but 

 distinguished by the sessile, ecalcarate lip, and very short column. Bentham places it 

 in the subtribe Ci/rtopodiece, near to Zygopetalum, which, however, is not where its 

 affinity lies. 



Nerves of lip tuberculate. 



Front lobe of lip suborbicular-oblong, very obtuse; disc 



5-7-nerved . , . . . . . 1. P. eustachya. 



Front lobe of lip nearly obcordate, emarginate; disc 



3-5-nerved . . . . . , . 2. P. engleriana. 



Nerves of lip slightly verrucose. 



Lobes of lip subequal . . . . . , , 3. P. ruwenzoriensis. 



Front lobe of lip twice as broad as side lobes , , 4. P. Carsoni. 



1. P. eustachya, Reichh. f. Otia Bot. Eamh. i. 67. Terrestrial, 

 with stout rhizome. Leaves radical, narrowly lanceolate, acute or 

 acuminale, J-1 J ft. long, narrowed below into a long petiole. Scape 

 2J-2J ft. high, with numerous, long, imbricate sheaths, the lower 

 obtuse, the upper acute. Bracts lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, acumi- 

 nate, 7-9 lin. long. Sepals and petals oblong or elliptical-oblong, sub- 

 obtuse or minutely apiculate, 5-6 lin. long. Lip sessile, trilobed, 

 ecalcarate ; side lobes divaricate, broadly oblong, obtuse, very slightly 

 curved, 3 lin. long ; front lobe quadrate-elliptic or broadly elliptic- 

 oblong, obtuse, flat ; disc with about five to seven tuberculate keels, 

 and a pair of rounded calli in the angle between the lip and column. 

 Column broad, 2 lin. long. 



Xrile Xiand, Abyssinia : Schimper, 1235 ! (1735, ex Reichenlach.) 



2. P. engleriana, Krdnzl. in Engl. Jahrh. xix. 249. Leaves 1 J ft. 

 long, 7 lin. broad. Scapes longer than the leaves, terminating in short, 

 capitate racemes, f- 1^ in. long. Flowers h in. diameter, white with a 

 purple-brown stripe on the side lobes of the lip, and a purple spot on 

 the front lobe. Sepals cuneate-obovate, obtuse or apiculate, keeled 

 at the back. Petals obtuse, narrow^er than the sepals, especially at 

 the base, in other respects similar. Lip trilobed ; side lobes obovate- 

 oblong, very obtuse, embracing the column ; nerves and ridges of the 

 disc and side lobes very sparsely pilose ; callus elevated at either side 



