28 ORCHIDS OF THE SIKKIM-HIMALAYA. 
8. Liparis BIT LATA, Lindl. Bot. Register, sub 882. 
Terrestrial. Stems tall, tufted, erect, robust, fleshy, from 8 to 10 in, high and '75 in. 
in diameter near the base. Leaves four or five, membranous, polished, ovate to elliptic- 
lanceolate, oblique, plicate, shortly acuminate, the base tapering into the broad sheathing 
petiole, 7-nerved; length 4 to 8 in. Inflorescence stout, erect, striate, much longer than the 
leaves; the peduncle ebracteate; raceme about 6 in. long, rather few-flowered ; floral bract 
cordate, acute, deflexed, minute. Flowers “65 in. long, dull, brownish-purple (the columa 
alone pale-green); the stalked ovary ‘6 in. long. Dorsal sepal linear-oblong, obtuse, 
sigmoidly curved backwards, ‘4 in. long, the lateral pair broader but of similar shape, 
spreading. Petals linear, spreading; their margins, like those of the dorsal sepal, 
recurved. Lip oblong, very concave, deflexed and revolute fron about the middle, 
bearing two sharp tooth-like calli at its base; the edges entire or slightly crenulate, 
the apex blunt with a small triangular apiculus. Column very slightly winged near 
the apex, not swollen at the base, slightly curved towards the middle. Ridley in 
Journ. Linn. Soc. XXII, 263; Hook. fil Fi. Br. Ind. V, 693; npusa рағаіоха, 
Wall. Cat. 1937B; Lindl. Gen. and Spec. Orchid, 17. Cymbitium ? bituberculatum ; 
Hook. Exotic Flora, t. 116. Sturmia bituberculsta, Reichb. fil. in Bonplandia, Ii, 22, 
Sikkim-Himalaya at Choongthang, elevation 6,000 feet, and in Lachen Valley ; 
Pantling No. 222; Griffith, Hooker and others.  Kamaon, Bliakworth; and Nepal, 
Wallich. Flowering in Sikkim in June and July. | 
Distinguished by the вш size of the floral bract. ZL. macrocarpa, Hook, fil, from 
Sikkim and Khasia, which the author describes as like a large state of Г. tuberculsta, 
ought, we think, to be reduced to this, as also might in all probability L. odontostoma, 
a species founded in Linnza (vol. XLI, 97) by Reichenbach оп.а specimen collected 
in Sikkim by Sir Joseph Hooker. In his Flora of British India (V. 707), Sir Joseph 
Hooker treats the latter as a doubtful sp»cies. The two calli at the base of the lip, 
which gave origin to the specific names oJontosiom: and bituberculata, are not peculiar 
to ihis, but occur in other species of the genus. This species closely resembles the 
plant figured by Lindley in the Botanical Register (t. 1175) under the name L; elata, 
said to have been introduced to England from Rio Janeiro, In fact Lindley (Gen. and 
Spec. Orchid., 27) reduces. the Cymbidium? bituberculatum of Hookers Exotic Flora 
(t. 116) to his Liparis elata. .But the note which. follows Lindley's description indicates 
that there was a good deal of doubt as to the real native country of the plant said 
to have been received in the Royal Horticultural Society’s Garden from Brazil Тһе 
probability appears .to be that the so-called Brazilian Г, elata really came from the 
Himalaya, and that it is conspecific with Hookers Cymbidium ? bituberculatum, and 
therefore —Liparis: bituberculata, Plants of this species vary considerably in robustness 
and also in the size of the flowers, The one figured here belongs to the set with 
large flowers. Some plants recently received from the Khasia Hills are smaller and 
have smaller flowers, and these seem to be fair examples of the species as it grows 
in the Khasia Hills, The small form was collected once last year in Sikkim (at 
Sureil, elevation 5,500 feet), but it is uncommon in Sikkim. 
PLATE 35.— Liparis bituberculata, Lindl. A plant, of natural size. Fig. 1 a completo flower, in 
profile, 2 the lip viewed from behind the tase, skowing the two sharp basal calli, 3 column, 4 anther, 
5 pollinia ; all enlarged. 
