3 84 cxxxiii. ORCHiDE^ (rolfe). [IletceHa. 



petiolate, ovate or lanceolate, membranous. Flowers small, shortly 

 pedicellate, arranged in lax racemes. Bracts small. 



A genus of about 15 species, ranging from India to Australia, with a single Tropical 

 African representative. 



1. H. Mannii, Benth. ex Durand <L- Schinz, Conspect. Fl. Afr. v. 57. 

 Plant about \h ft. high; stem creeping at the base, with stout roots. 

 Leaves petiolate; limb elliptical or elliptic-lanceolate, acuminate. 

 2^-4 in. long, |-lj in. broad; petioles 1-1 J in. long, expanded at the 

 base into a large, ovate-oblong sheath. Scapes 6-9 in. long; racemes 

 puberulous, many-flowered. Bracts lanceolate, very acuminate, 3-5 lin. 

 long. Pedicels 4 lin. long, pubescent. Dorsal sepal ovate-oblong, 

 obtuse, l}j lin. long; lateral broadly ovate, obtuse, IJ lin. long. Petals 

 linear, obtuse, 1 lin. long. Lip superior, IJ lin. long, broadly saccate 

 at the base ; apex divided into 2, recurved, oblong, obtuse, slightly 

 velvety lobes, J lin. long ; sac with a narrow, longitudinal keel, and a 

 pair of small, rounded calli near the base. Column stout, somewhat 

 gibbous in front. Stigmas lateral. — Ramphidia Mannii, Reichb. f . Otia 

 Bot. Hamb. ii. 109. 



"Upper Guinea. Cameroon River, Mann, 2131 1 



25. PLATYLEPIS, A. Rich., Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. PI. iii. 604. 



Sepals subequal, narrow, free, connivent round the column ; lateral 

 united at the base into a very short chin. Petals narrow, slightly 

 cohering with the dorsal sepal into a hood. Lip sessile at the base of 

 the column, erect, channelled, broadly ventricose at the base, cohering 

 with the margins of the column ; limb very little dilated, shorter than 

 the sepals. Column elongated, subterete ; clinandrium oblong, erect 

 behind the rostellum. Anther erect, acuminate, as long as the rostellum ; 

 cells distinct : pollinia sectile or granular, adhering to the lobes of the 

 rostellum. Stigma broad, papillose ; rostellum erect, bilobed, with 

 lanceolate, acuminate lobes. Capsules oblong, shortly contracted at the 

 apex. — Terrestrial herbs, with creeping rhizomes, and ascending leafy 

 stems. Leaves petiolate, ovate or ovate-lanceolate, membranous. 

 Flowers narrow, shortly pedicelled, arranged in dense spikes. Bracts 

 ovate. 



A genus of 4 species, natives of the Mascarene Islands, with the following exception. 



1. P. glandulosa, /t'eicA6./. in Linncea, xli. G2. Plant 1-1 1- ft. 

 high; stem creeping at the base. Leaves many, petiolate; limb 

 elliptic-ovate, shortly acuminate, 2-3 J in. long, 1-2 in. broad ; petioles 

 1|— IJ in. long, broader and sheathing at the base. Scapes 6-10 in. 

 long; racemes dense, many-flowered, lJ-5 in. long. Bracts broadly 

 ovate, concave, acute, glandular-villous, 2|-3^y lin. long. Flowers sub- 

 glabrous, brownish or greenish-yellow. "Pedicels 2 lin. long. Dorsal 

 sepal erect, ovate-oblong, subobtuse or apiculate, 3-3 J lin. long ; lateral 

 oblong, apiculate, reflexed, 3-3J lin. long. Petals subspathulate, 

 narrower than the dorsal sepal, and united with it into a hood. Lip 



