MICROSTYLIS. 21 
PLATE 25.- - Viercstylis muscifera, Ridley. A plant, of nclurai size. Fig. 1 flower, front viei, 
2 bract, stalked ovary, column and lip, in profile, 3 lip, 4 an empty anther, 5 pollinia; aè enlarged. 
9. Міс.овтүіл8 Maxtmowicztana, King and Pantlinz in Journ. As. Soc. Bengal, 
Vol. LXIV (1895), pt. 2, 330. | 
Rhizome 2 to 4 in. long, sub-erect, bearing scattered root-fibres and leafy pseudo- 
bulbs of varying ages 3 ог 4 in. long, Leaves four or five, elliptic to elliptic- 
lanceolate, acute, tapering to the sheathing base, slightly oblique, 7-nerved, 5 to 6 іп, 
long. Raceme about 6 in, long with numerous green flowers nearly “2 in. іп diam., 
the peduncle of the raceme 4 to 5 in. long. Floral brac: linear-lanceolate, equal to or 
exceeding the stalked ovary. Sepals oblong, blunt, their margins recurved, the lateral 
рат broader than the dorsal. /.tals linear, blunt, all reflexed. Zip concave, hood- 
shaped; its apex contracted, thickened, slightly crenate, and with two minute teeth 
above the pit; the side lobes large, sub-faleate, blunt. Columnar arms broad, overlapping 
and hiding the anther; the stigma large. Lip of anther truncate. 
Sikkim; on the Mungpoo Cinchona Plantation, alt. 2,000 to 4,000 feet; Pantling 
No. 226; flowerirg in July; King, Gamble. Jaintia Hills; Mr. Rita, 
The lip of this, although the flowers are in other respects very different, resembles 
that of M. Josephiana in being so very concave as to resemble a hood. Іп this 
respect these two differ from the other species of Microstylis here described. The column 
in this species also is larger than is usual in the genus, and has broad arms which 
overlap and hide the anther,—an arrangement the meaning of which is that the flowers 
are self-fertilized. If a fresh inflorescence be examined it will be found that in every 
newly-opened flower the pollinia have their points slightly exserted above the stigma. 
If an older flower be examined fiom further down the raceme, the membranous floor of 
the clinandrium will be found to have been absorbed by the stigma. A still older 
flower taken from near the base of the raceme will show the pollinia in contact with 
the stigma with their grains germinating in its tissues; while at the very base of the 
raceme young capsules may be found. All these stages may easily be found on the 
same raceme, as the flowers persist for a long time. These observations, originally made 
on growing plants by Mr. Pantling in 1892, have since been confirmed. The curious 
habit of this species is no doubt accounted for by the fact that it grows amongst 
long grass and other herbs more powerful than itself, to contend with which, in 
the struggle for light and air, the peculiar semi-erect long rhizome has been developed. 
Mr. Pantling has recently found that an exactiy similar habit is assumed by plants 
of M. Khasiana, and also of М. wailichii and its variety biloba, when they grow amongst 
longer grass thun usual. 
Prate 26.—Licrostylis Mazimowieziana, King and Pantling. Rhizome with pseudo-bulb of past 
and present years and inflorescence, of natural size. Fig. 1 flower, front einn, 2 flower, іп profile, 
3 longitudinal section of lip, 4 column and upper part of ovary, 5 anther, 6 pollinia; ай enlarged. 
10. МіскоѕтүІл8 ЈОВЕРНІАХА, Reichb. fil. in Bot. Mag, t. 6325. 
Stem about 2 in. long, with several oblong acute sheaths, rising from the base of a 
fusiform compressed pseudo-bulb 2:5 to $ in. long, covered with broad acuminate sheaths. 
