14 ORCHIDS OF THE SIKKIM-HIMALAYA. 
Рілте 16A.—Oberonia auriculata, King and Pantling. Two plants, of natural size. Fig. 1 a 
flower seen from the front, 2 anther, 3 pollinia; all enlarged. 
20. OBERONIA PYRULIFERA, Lindl. Fol. Orchid., Oberonia, p. 3. 
Stem very short. Leaves ensiform, obliquely acute or sub-acute, sub-faleate, 1 to 2:5 
in. long and “15 to "30 in. broad. Peduncle of inflorescence slender, terete, about half 
as long as the leaves; the bracts slender, subulate; the raceme about the same length or 
longer, slender, deeurved ; foral bract shorter than the rather long-stalked ovary, lanceo- 
late, acuminate, erose. Flowers minute (about :0605), green, scattered, not verticillate. 
Sepals ovate, acute, entire. Petals oblong, blunt, reflexed like the sepals and resting 
on the ovary. Lip more than twice as long as the sepals, oblong, with a quadrate 
hypochile truncate at the base, with a small rounded shoulder-Jike auricle at each 
extremity and a shallow triangular depression between; the apical lobe deeply cleft 
into two oblong sub-faleate obtuse divergent lobules with a large triangular sinus 
between them. Capsules ovoid-cylindric, ribbed, :1 in. long. Hook. fil. Fl. Br. Ind. 
V, 678. 0. verticillata, var. Khasiana, Lindl. Fol. Orchid., Oberonia, p. 3. Malaxis 
verticillata, var. Khasiana, and M. pyrulifera, Reichb. fil. in Walp. Ann. VI, 210, 211. 
Valley of the Teesta in Sikkim, at an elevation of 1,000 feet; Pantling No. 191; 
in flower in October. Khasia Hills, elevation 4,000 to 6,000 feet; Hooker fil. and 
T.T. Munipore; Watt. 
PrarE 16B.—Oberonia pyrulifera, Lindl. Two plants, of natural sis. Fig. 1 а flower, seen from 
the front, 2 anther, 3 pollinia; all enlarged. 
2. Microstylis, Nutt. 
Terrestrial, sometimes epiphytic (two saprophytic), pseudo-bulbous. eaves one or 
more, membranous, plicate, continuous with their sheaths (absent in two species). 
Flowers small, resupinate, in terminal racemes. Sepals spreading or recurved, sub-equal. 
Petals narrower than the sepals but of about the same length. Lip adnate о the base 
of the column, usually flat; the basal lobes large, sagittate, and produced upwards, or 
cup-shaped with small lobes, or without basal lobes; the apex emarginate 9.3-lobed 
erose or entire. Column very short (rather long in M. congesta and M. Майн: 
ziana), with two short spreading arms, Anther sub-terminal, bilocular; pollinia 4, ovoid 
or obovoid. | : : 
A genus including about sixty species, of which ten are found in Sikkim and 
nine in other parts of British India and in Ceylon. 
Lip slightly convex; the basal auricles sagiitate, projecting up- 
wards and more or less hiding the rest of the flower. 
Anterior lobe of lip transversely elliptic, erose . . . 1. M. Khasiana. 
Anterior lobe of lip rounded, notched; the basal auricles 
parallel, their tips not touching or overlapping . . 2. JM. Walllichit. 
Anterior lobe of lip sub-quadrate, deeply bifid; the basal 
im converging, their tips touching or overlapping. 2, M. Wallichii, car. biloba. 
terior lobe of lip triangular,’ its apexnotehed . . . 3. HM. бсойй, 
