2o0 cxxxiii. ORCHiDEiE (rolfe). [^Rmjyerochxiris, 



38. BCEPEROCHARIS, Reichb. f. Otia Bot. Hamb. ii. 104. 



Sepals unequal, free, lateral somewhat spreading. Petals simple, 

 free, much like the dorsal sepal. Lip continuous with the column^ 

 produced .at the base into a spur; limb spreading or pendulous, 

 simple or trilobed. Column very broad, footless ; clinandrium diver- 

 gently bilobed. Anther cells distant, terminating abruptly in front, 

 without channels ; pollinia granular, with short caudicles and exserted 

 naked glands; staminodes lateral, transversely oblong. Stigmas de- 

 scending in a pair of clavate-oblong processes, produced behind into 

 a pair of tooth-like lobes ; rostellum with the middle lobe obsolete ; side 

 lobes descending in triangular lobes, confluent with the arms of the 

 column above, — Kranzl. in Reichb. f. Xen. Orch. iii. 1U2, t. 2;)8. 



An exclusively Tropical African genus of five species, differing from Hahenaria in 

 tiie remarkable structure of the (!olumn. 

 Lip trilobed. 



Front lobe of lip obtuse. 



Spur clavate, 3^ lin. long ; apex obtuse . . 1. R. bennetliana. 



Spur cylindrical, 6 lin. long ; apex shortly bilobed . 2. R. urbaniana. 

 Front lobe of lip shortly bilobed. 



Lobes of lip subeqnal . . . . . . 3. i2. platyanthera. 



Side lobes of lip longer and rather narrower than the 



front lobe . . . . . . . 4. iJ. occidentalis. 



Lip simple . . , . . . . . , o. R. alcicornis. 



1. R. bennettiana, Reichb. f. Otia Bot. Hamb. ii. 104. Plant 

 1|-1^ ft. high, leafy. Tuber globose or ovoid-oblong, -J-1 in. long. 

 Leaves suberect, lanceolate- oblong, acute, sheathing below, 3-4 in. long, 

 decreasing upwards and with a few sheaths at the base. Racemes 5 in. 

 long, dense-flowered. Bracts lanceolate, acuminate, 4-8 lin. long. 

 Pedicels 4-5 lin. long. Dorsal sepal ovate, acute, 2|^ lin. long ; lateral 

 suberect, oblique, semiovate, acute, '1\ lin. long. Petals broadly ovate, 

 suddenly narrowed near the apex into a falcate-linear, subobtuse ap- 

 pendage. Lip 5 lin. long, shortly clawed below, trilobed above, side 

 lobes narrowly falcate-linear, diverging; front lobe narrowly elongate- 

 linear, longer than the side lobes ; spur subclavate, 3 J lin. long ; apex 

 bidentate. Arms of the column broad, diverging laterally, 2 lin. long; 

 attachment of anther 1-1) lin. from the base; caudicles short. Stig- 

 matic processes subclavate, slightly curved, subparallel, 2^, lin. long, 

 prolonged behind into a linear-oblong appendage. — Oliv. in Hook. Ic. 

 PI. t. 1500 ; Kranzl. in Reichb. f. Xen. Orch. iii. 104, t. 258, fig. 2. 



Wile land. Abyssinia: Begemeder ; Jan Meda, 8500 ft., Schimper, 1327! 



2. R. urbaniana, Kranzl. in Reichb. f. Xen. Chxh. iii. 104, t. 258, 

 Jig. 3. Plant slender, 6-12 in. high, 2-4-leaved in the middle. Tuber 

 broadly ovate or subglobose. Leaves oblong or oblong-lanceolate, 

 subacute, upper acuminate, 1^-3 in. long, 4-7 lin. broad. Racemes 

 lJ-3 in. long, rather lax, 8-15-flowered. Bracts oblong-lanceolate, 

 acuminate, 5-7 lin. long. Pedicels 4-5 lin. long. Dorsal sepal ovate 



