Polyttachya.} CXLVIII. ORCHIDE^E. (J. D. Hooker.) 21 



erect, midlobe spreading or recurved. Column short, broad ; anther 1- or 

 sub-2-celled ; pollinia 4, ovoid, cohering or connate in pairs, attached to a 

 very short strap, or gland ? Species about 40, all tropical, chiefly 

 American. 



1. P. Wigrhtii, Eeichb. f. in Walp. Ann. vi. 640; stem 4-6 in., 

 flowers yellow, lip broader than long, side lobes nearly as long as the short 

 broad rounded midlobe, disk with the median ridge densely furfuraceous. 

 P. luteola, Wight Ic. t. 1678. 



MALABAR ; ou the lyauaallay Hills, Wight (Kew Distrib. 2990). ? PENANG, 

 Curtis. ? CEYLON. 



Leaves 2-3, 4-6 by f-1 in. Stem stout ; panicle glabrous, branches short ; 

 sheaths long, coriaceous, flattened ; bracts small, acute, persistent ; flowers yellow ; 

 sepals in. long, acute. Capsule % in. long. P. luteola, Hook. Exot. Flor. t. 105, 

 figured from a cultivated specimen said to have been sent by Wallich, has 

 been pronounced by Lindley (Bot. Reg. 1838, Misc. 78) to be a West Indian plant. 

 No original specimen of it was preserved. Lindley distinguishes it from the Indian 

 plant by the capsule being nerveless between the ribs, whilst those of the latter are 

 reticulated. The figure in Flor. Exot. represents the sepals as obtuse. Much better 

 specimens of the Indian species are wanted to determine their differences from one 

 another and from the Mauritian and others, and the genus wants working up. 



2. P. purpurea, Wight Ic. t. 1679 ; flowers purplish, lip longer than 

 broad, side lobes much shorter than the large rounded midlobe, disk with a 

 short median ridge furfuraceous. Walp. Ann. vi. 640. 



TRAVANCORE ; on the lyamallay Hills, Wight (Kew Distrib. 2991). 

 Very near if not a variety of P. Wightii, but the flowers are smaller, and if my 

 analysis is correct (the materials are unsatisfactory) the lip is much narrower. 



3. P. zeylanica, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. 1838, Misc. 78 (excl. Syn.} stem 

 12-18 in., lip cuneate-obovate, side lobes small acute, midlobe rounded, 

 disk furfuraceous, capsule | in. reticulate between the ribs. Walp. Ann. 

 vi. 639. 



CEYLON, Walker, Gardner. 



A very much larger plant than either of the former, with a stout stem, and 

 panicle 6-10 in. long with branches 1-3 in. long, flowers larger, and leaves larger 

 and broader upwards. The Mauritian P. mauritiana, Spreng. Syst. Veg. iii. 742 

 (Dendrobium polystachys, Thou. Orchid. Jfric. t. 85), which Lindley referred to this 

 more resembles P. Wightii. 



48. PXiOCOGXiOTTXS, Blume. 



Terrestrial herbs with the creeping rhizome, habit and inflorescence of 

 Tainia and Chrysoglossum, from which they are only distinguishable by the 

 short erect quadrate lip having its sides confluent with the sides of the short 

 column, and by having the four pollinia attached in pairs by 2 stipes to a 

 gland. Species 4 or 5, Indian and Malayan. 



1. P. acuminata, Blume Mus. Bot. i. 46 ; leaf solitary, bracts lan- 

 ceolate as long as the pedicel or longer, raceme puberulous. Miquel Fl. 

 Ind. Bat. iii. 676. 



PERAK, alt. 2-3000 ft., King's Collector. DISTEIB. Java, Sumatra. 



Leaf-blade 10-12 by 2^-3 in., elliptic-lanceolate, longer than the slender petiole. 

 Scape as long or longer, slender ; raceme very lax -fid., simple or with a branch from the 

 base; bracts -| in., lanceolate, acuminate; pedicel with ovary as long; flowers 1 in. 

 diam., sparsely puberulous ; dorsal sepal lanceolate ; erect lateral oblong-lanceolate, 

 falcate, finely acuminate, 5-nerved ; petals narrowly lanceolate, falcate ; lip quadrate, 

 contracted sibove the base, angles rounded, retuse in front with a long cusp ; spur a 

 conical gibbosity. The specimen is not very good, but I think it is P. acuminata. 



