Alpinia.] scitamine^e. 34,9 



In ravines of Mount Victoria, Champion, Uance. In Ceylon, the Malayan Peninsula, 

 and the Archipelago, and frequently cultivated for its aromatic rliizoiucs. 



3. A. chinensis. Rose, in Linn. Trans, viii. 346. Allied to the last 

 but of smaller stature, with smaller naiTOwer leaves. Panicle naiTower and 

 quite g-labrous ; the lower branches usually 3 -flowered. Perianth ncariy as in 

 A. galangas, but much smaller ; tlie inner lobes scarcely exceeding 4 lines. 

 Labellum sessile, broadly ovate, slightly emarginate, and the small lateral 

 linear lobes at the base turned towards the stamen. — Galangaminor, Humph. 

 Amb. V. 143. Hellenia chinensis, Willd. Spec. PL i. 5. 



In ravines of Mount Victoria, Champion ; in shady woods of the Happy Valley, Wilford ; 

 ■d\&o Wright. Not Icnown out of S. China. Fortune's plant from N. China, n.'CS, and the 

 Boniu plant referred in the Botany of Bcechey's Voyage, with doubt, but erroneously to 

 Glolha Hura, Roxb., are closely allied to Alinnia chinensis, but in some measure iutcr- 

 mediate between that species and A. yalangas. Both have a more campanulate outer peri- 

 anth. ^ In Fortune's specimens the labellum is sessile as in u4. chinensis ; in the Bonin ones 

 it is stipitate, but much less so than in A. galangas. "Whether these differences ai'e specific, 

 or whether the labellum is variable, is a point which remains to be determined. 



3. CAK-^A, Linn. 



Outer perianth of 3 short stiff persistent segments. Inner perianth petal- 

 like, united at the base in a tube with the stamens, and deciduous with thcni ; 

 the Kmb of 3 nearly equal segments. Staminal whorl consisting of 4 petal- 

 like segments, 3 barren (often called inner corolla) ; the fourth bearing a 1- 

 celled anther on one side. Ovary 3-celled, with several ovules. Style flat- 

 tened, with a terminal stigma. Capsule muricate, 3-valved. — Herbs with erect 

 stems. Plowers in a terminal inteiTupted simple or branched spike. 



A tropical genus, chiefly American, but abundant also in the Old "World, esi)ecially as es- 

 capes from cultivation, producing numerous vai'ieties published as species; \Nhilst it is pro- 

 bable that the permanent indigenous forms are but few. 



1. C indica, Linn. ? ; Roxb. FL Ltid. i. 1. Stems 3 or 4 feet high. 

 Leaves from ovate to oblong-lanceolate, acuminate, 6 to 8 in. long. Flowers 

 red or yellow. Outer perianth-segments ovate, obtuse, 3 or 4 lines long ; 

 inner ones naiTow, erect, acute, above 1 in. Petal-like stamens (or inner co- 

 rolla) longer, more highly coloured, spreading towards the top. 



Introduced, on hill-sides near rivulets, IFright and others. A species probably native of 

 eastern India or the Archipelago, but now so abundantly dispersed over tropical Asia as au 

 escape fi-om cultivation, that it is impossible to fix the limits of its really indigenous stations. 



OrvDEii CXI. ORCHIDE.^. 



Perianth superior, ii-regular, of 6 usually petal-like segments; the 3 outer 

 ones called sepals, and 2 of the inner ones called petals, usually m-arly similar ; 

 tlie third inner one, called the labellum or Up, dillering from the others in 

 shape, or direction, or insertion. Opposite to the labellum, iu the axis of the 

 flower, is the column, consisting of 1 or rarely 2 stamens combined with the 

 style ; the 2-celled anther or anthers being variously situated on the style it- 

 self, and each cell of the anther sometimes spuriously or partially divided into 

 2 or 4 smaller cells. Pollen usually cohering into 1, 2, or 4 pairs of oblong or 

 globular pollen-masses, tapering at one end into a pouit, and in many genera 



