PHAJUS. 109 
1882, І, p. 558. Р, Wallichii, Hook, fil. Fl. Br. Ind. V, 816 (in part).. ? Limodorum 
Tankervillie, Roxb. Fl. Ind. III, 466 (not of Aiton). | 
Sikkim, in similar situations to Р. Wallichii; in flower during March and April; 
Pantling No. 159. Kamroop and Luckimpur in Assam; Clarke, Mann, Watt.  Khasia 
Hills; Gallatly, Burma; Griffith (Kew Distrib.), No. 5292. 
There has been some confusion and uncertainty about the limits of the two closely 
allied species Р, Wallichii and P. Blumei, much of which has doubtless arisen from 
reliance being placed on the colour of the flower as a means of separating the species. 
The tendency has been to refer individuals with pale-coloured flowers to P. Blumei, and 
those with dark-coloured flowers to Р. Wallichs Mr. Pantling has had for some time 
a number of plants of both, of local origin, in cultivation at the Government Cinchona 
Plantation, and the conduct of one of these during the present year has completely 
broken down our faith in colour as a means of separating the two. The plant referred 
to used to produce flowers with the long spur and dilated ovate-rotund acuminate 
lip which we have aboye given as characteristic of Р, Wallichii, Hitherto the colour- 
ation of these has been as follows; sepals and petals warm brown on the inner surface, 
white or nearly so on the outer; lip with a pale purple mouth becoming paler 
towards the white margin, the tube being yellow. The shade of purple on the lip has 
in former years been observed to vary in intensity, and the palest coloured lips have 
usually been the widest; the very dark coloured lips being smaller in every way. 
This has hitherto been the limit of variation. But during the present year there 
appeared on the clump in question two racemes, the flowers on which had dull yellow 
sepals and petals and a pale yellow lip, the yellow shading into white at the 
margins. But these pale flowers had spur and lip of exactly the same shape as those 
on the other racemes which produced flowers of the normal colour. No chan ge in 
structure accompanied the change in colour. We have on the strength of this 
experience, as well as from the examination of large suites of specimens, both living 
and dried, been driven to the conclusion that the form of the spur and lip are the 
only reliable characters to separate the two. Both species appear to have the same 
distribution. The Sikkim plant, which we have here figured as P. Blumei, has a more 
condensed raceme, larger flowers and smaller capsules than typical P. Blumei, and may 
be separated as a variety under the name pulchra, Two varieties of P. Blumei have 
been founded on the colour of their flowers. One from North Australia, which has been 
named variety Berneysii, has flowers of a sulphur yellow colour, the outer surface of 
sepals and petals being pure white; and closely allied to that is another described by 
Reichenbach filius (in Gardener's Chron. for 1882, I, p. 558), as P. Blumei, var. Assamica, 
which has “yellowish flowers with a light yellow lip bordered with white." 
Рілте 151.—Phajus Blumei, Lindl. var. pulchra, King and Pantling. Pseudo-bulb, base of stem 
and raceme; of natural size. Fig. 1 lip, 2 lip seen from above, 3 column and spur, 4 empty anther, 5 
pollinia, 6 side view of a group of four pollinia, 7 a fruit; Nos. 1, 9 and 7 are of natural size, the 
others are enlarged. An entire plant, much reduced in size, 
5. Ppasus MISHMENSIS, Reicbh. fil. in Bonplandia V, 43. 
Stems З to 4 feet high and 5 to ‘75 in. thick, swollen at the very base but hardly 
pseudo-bulbous, naked below or bearing at the nodes the fibres of decayed sheaths; 
above with six to eight stoutly membranous, many-nerved, plicate, elliptic-lanceolate, 
acute leaves, narrowed at the base to a sheathing petiole; length 7 to 19 in., breadth 3 
