59 ORCHIDS OF THE SIKKIM.HIMALAYA. 
III, 483; Lindl. Gen. and Spec. Orchid., 79; in Bot. Reg. t. 1756; Wall. Cat. 2007; 
Bot. Mag. t. 2584; Wight Ie. t. 908; Lodd. Bot. Cab. t. 750; Veitch Man. Dendrob. 
69; Hook. fil. Fl. Br. Ind. V, 738. 
Sikkim; in tropical valleys as high as 3,000 feet; Pantling No. 70. Assam, Bengal, 
and southwards to Tenasserim and the Peninsula of India; in flower during April 
and May. 
The prevailing colour of the flower is a beautiful rose or pale purple, and the 
texture is translucent, the lip being pale yellow with radiating lines of purple at the base. 
There is some variation in the species; and one form, which is characterised by smaller 
flowers with shorter ovaries and a lip with a longer tube and a shorter limb, was described 
as & species by Robert Brown under the name D. cucullatum (Bot. Reg. t. 548). Sir 
Joseph Hooker (Fl. Br. Ind. V, 739) considers it as merely a variety of D. Pierardi. It 
is, however, a variety which does not now occur in Sikkim, being found chiefly in the 
western coast of Southern India.: 
PLATE 72.— Dendrobium Pierardi, Roxb. Part of a plant in flower, of natural size. Fig. 1 a flower, 
2 the claw of the lip, 3 the lip, 4 column and its foot, 5 anther, 6 pollinia; all en/arged. 
19. DENDROBIUM RaMOSUM, Wall. Cat. 2003. 
Stems slender, pendulous, often branched or viviparous, 12 to 24 in. long. Leaves 
lanceolate, acute or acuminate, 3 to 5 in. long and :65 to 1 in. broad. Flowers 1:25 to 
155 in. long, leaf-opposed, solitary or in racemes of two; floral bract broadly lanceolate, 
much shorter than the stalked ovary. Dorsal sepal elliptic, narrowed towards the obtuse 
apex; lateral sepals much broader, their apices narrowed, blunt. Petals as long as the 
dorsal sepal, oblong, sub-spathulate, blunt. Lip very concave and much curved from 
the base, sub-trapezioidly obovate (when spread out), its base slightly auricled; the 
side lobes large, broad, convolute; the terminal lobe sub-orbicular, bifid, deflexed and 
erisped; the disc from about the middle with a villous green papillose crest. Column 
short, stout; the mentum broad and with a short sub-bifid pouch at its extremity. 
Anther with ап erose lip. D. Ruckeri, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. 1843. Misc. 8, t. 60; Reichb. 
fl in Walp. Ann. VI, 288; Hook. fil. Fl. Br. Ind. V, 733. | 
Sikkim; on Sittong, elevation 4,000 to 5,000 feet; Pantling No. 117. Bhotan, Lister. 
Khasia Hills, Rita; in flower during April and May. 
The prevailing colour in the flower is primrose yellow. The lip has numerous 
radiating streaks of brownish-purple, and the mentum externally is often suffused with 
the same colour. The villous disc on the mid lobe of the lip is green. Wallich’s specimens 
of this are in poor condition, but a careful examination of them and a comparison with 
specimens of D. Ruckeri, Lindl., have convinced us that the two Species are identical. 
We therefore restore the older name of Wallich. 
Prate 73.— Dendrobium ramosum, Wall. A plant, of natural size. Fig. 1 a flower, with its stalked 
ovary and bract, 2 column, mentum and lip, seen from the side, the sepals and petals being removed, 
3 posterior part of lip, seen from above, 4 transverse section of the lip, flattened out, 5 column in profile, 
6 front of column showing the emarginate saccate terminal pouch, 7 anther, as seen from behind, 
8 pollinia; all enlarged. 
