78 ORCHIDS OF JAMAICA 



with a short posterior tooth, bearing the anther. Anther 

 terminal, opercular, convex, distinctly 2-celled ; cells divided 

 again into two cells by an imperfect longitudinal septum ; 

 pollinia 4, waxy, two in each cell, equal, ovoid-oblong, compressed 

 parallel, erect, the appendage granular-viscous, laminiform, 

 ascending from the base, incumbent on the pollinia. Capsule 

 globose or ovoid, ribs only slightly prominent. 



Species about 13, natives of warmer America from the West 

 Indies and Mexico to Brazil and Peru. 



I. linearis B. Br. in Ait. Hort. Kew. ed. 2, v. 209 (1813); 

 Bot. Beg. t. 745 ; Lindl. Gen. & Sp. Orch. 112 ; Griseb. Fl. Br. 

 W. Ind. 623. Helleborine tenuifolia repens Blum. Bl. Amer. 

 (Burm.) t. 182, /. 1. Epidendrum lineare Jacq. Stirp. Amer. 221, 

 t. 131,/. 1 (1763), Ed.pict. t. 201. Cymbidium lineare Sw. in 

 Nov. Act. Upsal. vi. 72 (1799). (PI. 13, f. 8-13.) 



On trees and rocks ; in fl. Sept.-March, in fr. Nov.-March ; Shakespear ! 

 Swartz ! Macfadyen 1 Petersfield, St. Mary, McNah ! Radnor, Purdie ! 

 Fairfield, Wullschlaegel, 1063 I March ! Prioi- ! Blue Mts. J.P. 32, Morris ! 

 Catherine Peak, Eggers, 3527 ; near Browns Town, Miss T. M. Barrett ! 

 Unity Valley, St. Ann, Miss A. Boperl Cinchona, 4500 ft., Fawcett \ 

 Harris ! Tweedside, south St. Andrew, Harris 1 Fl. Jam. 7752, 7843, 

 10,460. — Cuba, Hispaniola, Porto Rico, St. Vincent, Guadeloupe, Dominica, 

 Martinique, Trinidad, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Mexico, 

 Venezuela, Colombia, B. Guiana, Brazil, Argentine, Bolivia, Peru. 



Plant 1 ft.-2 ft. 4 in. high. Stems 2-6 dm. 1. Leaves 3 5-6-5 cm. 1., 

 3-6 mm. br. ; sheaths 1-2*5 cm. 1. Racemes l'5-3-5 cm. 1. Bracts 

 coloured like the flowers, obovate, 7-10 mm. 1. Floiuers about ^ in. 1. 

 Ovary 2-winged. Sepals 2-3 nerves on each side of median curve, lateral 

 with a strong keel, which is decurrent on ovary, and forms a macro at 

 apex, oblong, tapering near apex, shortly connate at base, about 10 mm. 1,, 

 3 mm. br. ; median not keeled, oblong, abruptly acute, a little shorter and 

 broader than the lateral. Petals 5-nerved, oblanceolate-elliptical, apex 

 obtuse, somewhat oblique at base, a little shorter and narrower than the 

 median sepal. Lip 7-nerved, oblong, expanding in middle, tapering near 

 the apex, and slightly tapering to base, curved from base inwards to 

 embrace column and then outwards, 8-10 mm. 1., 1-1*25 mm. br. Column 

 •5 cm. 1. Capsule 6-ribbed, two ribs prominent above, 7-9 mm. 1., about 

 3 mm. br. 



26. OCTADESMIA Benth. 



Epiphytic herbs, with simple leafy stems. Leaves linear- 

 oblong or broadly lanceolate, in two ranks, somewhat rigid but 

 not fleshy, with numerous fine prominent nerves, jointed with, 

 and deciduous from, the sheath. Peduncle terminal, simple, or 

 slightly branched, the branches laxly few-flowered. Flowers 

 medium-sized, shortly stalked. Bracts short, sheathing at the 

 base. Sepals, all of about the same length, somewhat spreading, 

 lateral somewhat falcate, connected under the lip into a slightly 

 prominent chin. Petals somewhat like the lateral sepals. Lip 

 suberect from the base of the column, free, oblong or roundish. 



