56 ORCHIDS OF JAMAICA 



Neither at Kev: nor the British Museum are there any specimens 

 named P. gelida, and Grisebach merely quotes Lindley's description, 

 which was based on a cultivated plant obtained by Messrs. Loddiges from 

 Jamaica. 



The figure in Xenia Orchidacea {Hi. t. 267, II.) represents the flower 

 more widely open than obtains in any specimens we have seen. 



4. P. velaticaulis Beichh. f. in Linnsea xxii. 824 (1849); 

 racemes 1-5, with numerous flowers, shorter than leaf, or about 

 as long, enclosed by a large leathery spathe; ovary terete, 

 smooth ; sepals keeled, lateral subf ree ; lip 3-lobed, lateral lobes 

 emarginate. — Lindl. Fol. Orch. Pleuroth. 29 (1859) ; Cogn. op. 

 cit. 400 & under. P. crassipes Lindl., so far as concerns Jamaican 

 specimen Fl. Jam. 7745. (PI. 8, f. 17-22.) 



On rocks and trees; in fl. Nov.; near Cinchona, 6000 ft., Harris \ 

 Fl. Jam. 7745.— Cuba. 



Plant a foot or more high. Stems 13-21 cm. L, clustered, long, slender, 

 angular, of two internodes, with a long thin tubular sheath at each node, 

 5 cm. 1., with a shorter outer one at the base. Leaf oblanceolate-oblong, 

 tapering into a long stalk, shorter than the stem, 10-12 cm. 1., of which 

 the stalk is about 2 cm. 1., 2-2-5 cm. br. Bacemes 6-10 cm. 1. Bracts 

 tubular below, dilated upwards, truncate, apiculate, 3-3-5 mm. 1. Pedicels 

 as long as the laracts. Ovary 3 '5-4 mm. 1., carrying the flower much above 

 the bracts. Sepals, median ovate, subacute, 3-nerved, 4 mm. 1., 2 mm. br. ; 

 lateral lanceolate, acute, 3-nerved, 4 mm., 1., 1*3 mm. br. Petals linear- 

 oblong, blunt, obscurely apiculate, 1-nerved, a little over 2 mm, 1., 

 •7 mm. br. Lip broad, 3-lobed, 3-nerved, 1*7 mm. 1., barely 1-5 mm. br., 

 inserted by a short broad claw, above which is a transverse ridge, middle 

 lobe shortly ovate, blunt ; lateral lobes much shorter than the middle lobe, 

 rounded, emarginate. Column short, broad, about 1 mm. 1., without a 

 membranous margin. 



Eeichenbach's description differs in that the sepals are oblong, obtuse, 

 and the petals cuneate. This species is very near P. crassipes Lindl. 



5. P. alpestris Lindl. Gen. & Sp. Orch. Pleuroth. 7 (1830); 

 racemes, 1 -several, with numerous flowers, not much longer than 

 the small leaf, or about as long ; sepals yellowish-green, shortly 

 acute, connivent into a tube, the lateral connate nearly to apex. 

 — Griseh. op. cit. 607; Cogn. op. cit. 401. P. nigroannulata 

 Cogn. in Fedde Bepert. vi. 306 (1909) in part (Fl. Jam. 7554) & 

 in Symh. Ant. vi. 417. Epidendrum alpestre Sw. Prodr. 125 

 (1788). Dendrobium alpestre Sw. in Nov. Act. Upsal. vi. 84 

 (1799) & Fl. Ind. Occ. 1545. Type in Herb. Mus. Brit. 



On trees; in fl. Nov.-Feb. ; Blue Mts., Swartzl Clydesdale, 4000 ft., 

 J.P. 29; 35 ; Morris ! Cinchona, C. Nicholls ! Mt. Hybla ; Silver Hill Wood- 

 land, 4000 ft. ; Hardware Gap ; Woodcutters' Gap, 4000 ft. ; Holly Mount, 

 Mt. Diabolo, 2600 ft. ; near Cinchona, 4000 ft. ; Harris 1 Fl. Jam. 7554, 

 7613, 7829, 8908, 10,502. 



Plant 4 or 5 in. high. Stems 2-3 cm. 1., 1 mm. or less thick, clustered ; 

 somewhat compressed and angular when dry ; a loose membranous sheath 

 springs from a node just above the base and extends about half-way to the 

 leaf. Leaf 3-4-5 cm, 1., 7-13 mm. br., narrowly oval to oval-lanceolate. 



