Limatodes.'] orchide^e. 359 



18. LIMATODES, Blume. 



Sepals and petals spreading, free, nearly equal. Labellum inserted at the 

 base of the very short column, concave or convolute, entire or lobed, with 

 folds or tubercles on the disk. Anther terminal. Pollen-masses 8, waxy, at- 

 tached in fours to a divisible gland. Stems leafy. Scapes or peduncles leaf- 

 less, erect, inserted at the base of the stem below the leaves. 

 A small tropical Asiatic genus. 



1. L. gracilis, Lindl. in Kew Journ. Bot. vii. 36. Stems 1 to 2 ft. high. 

 Leaves oblong, 6 to 8 in. long, tapering to a fine point, thin, with prominent 

 veins. Scapes 6 in. to 1 ft. long, with several obtuse sheathing scales and a 

 short loose raceme of yellow-green flowers, without bracts at the time of flower- 

 ing. Sepals and petals nearly £ in. long, recurved and wavy at the top. La- 

 bellum oblong, not spurred, convolute in the lower half, with 2 small lateral 

 lobes ; the middle lobe large, very much waved on the edge, with 2 raised 

 lines on the disk. — Calanthe gracilis, Lindl. in Bot. Mag. t. 2714. 



On Victoria Peak, Champion. Also in Khasia and Silhet. 



19. TROPIDIA, Lindl. 



Sepals and petals connivent, the 2 lower connate at the base in a short 

 pouch. Labellum concave or saccate at the base within the lower sepals ; the 

 limb erect or spreading, undivided. Column oblique, with an acute or 2-cleft 

 beak. Anther acuminate, adnate on the back of the column. Pollen-masses 

 2, glandular, affixed by the caudicle to a common gland. — Stems leafy, erect, 

 often branching. Spikes short, terminal or lateral. 



A small tropical Asiatic genus. 



1. T. curculigoid.es, Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orck. 497. Stems tall, erect, 

 glabrous. Leaves distichous, oblong-lanceolate or linear-lanceolate, long-acu- 

 ninate, 6 to 8 in. long, sessile on a close striate sheath. Spikes very short 

 •md few -flowered, terminal or leaf-opposed. Bracts small, herbaceous, striate. 

 Flowers greenish-white, about 5 lines long. Sepals and petals narrow, more 

 or less falcate. — Ptychochilus septemnervis, Schauer in PI. Meyen. 431, t. 12, 

 f. B. 



In a ravine of the Wanguachang woods in the Happy Valley, Champion. In Ceylon, the 

 Indian Archipelago, the Malayan Peninsula, Khasia, Sikkim, and the Philippines. The 

 Hongkong specimens come nearest to the variety described as T. squamata, Blume, with the 

 bracts ovate-lanceolate or linear-lanceolate, but usually without the fine point of the Ceylon 

 and Malacca specimens originally described by Lindley. 



20. SPIRANTHES, Eich, 



Sepals and petals nearly equal, erect or spreading at the tips ; the 2 lower 

 sepals oblique, covering the base of the labellum, the upper one cohering with 

 the petals. Labellum adhering to a projection from the base of the column, 

 with 2 tubercles or protuberances below the middle. Anther attached to the 

 back of the short column. Pollen-masses 2, granular, united at the top to a 

 single gland. — Terrestrial herbs. Leaves at the base of the stems or on the an- 

 nually renewed tuberous rhizome. Flowers small, usually in 1 or 2 spiral rows. 



A conside ble genus, dispersed over the greater part of the world. 



