STEREOCHILUS. : 235 
narrowed nor sheathing at the base, 2:5 to 5 in. long, and about ‘2 in. broad when 
unfolded. ^ Panicles axillary, slender, longer than the leaves, their branches few and 
racemose. lowers not crowded, only :15 in. long; floral bract minute. Sepals and 
petals connivent; the sepals broadly oblong, obtuse; the petals smaller, obovoid. Lip 
longer than the sepals, fleshy, concave; its base with a stout cylindric blunt spur parallel 
to the ovary and nearly as long, its interior with a small posterior and а large anterior 
callus occluding the mouth; dorsal scale none; side lobes obscure; apical lobe ovate. 
rotund, blunt, entire, concave. Column very short, thick, bearing on its sides two 
translucent teeth. Anther dome-shaped, with a long beak in front; pollinia two, broadly 
ovoid, attached by a broad flat oblong caudicle to a much-elongated oblong gland. 
Capsule oblong, curved, sub-sessile, “2 in. long. Saccolabium gemmatum, Lindl. in Bot. 
Reg. 1838, Mise. 50; Reichb. fil. in Walp. Ann. V, 885; Hook. fil, Fl. Br. Ind. VI, 
55; m Ann, Bot. Gard. Cale, Vol. VIL, Pt..1, 46, % TOs 
Sikkim, at elevations between 2,000 and 6,000 feet, common ; in flower during July 
and August; Pantling No. 126; Bhotan, Khasia and Jaintia Hills, 
The prevailing colour in the flower and ovary of this is purple, the apical lobe 
of the lip and the inner surface of the petals being white. The specific name given 
to the plant by Lindley is gemmatum, and not geminatum, аз it has sometimes been 
inadvertently written. 
We have removed this and Sace. micranthum from the genus Saccolabium, as the 
mouth of the spur in both is quite closed by the large calli which occur in that 
situation; whereas in Saccolabium, as limited by the late Mr. Bentham and by Sir Joseph 
Hooker, there is neither callus nor plate in the spur. In Cleisostoma, on the other hand, 
the spur is occluded by calli, or by a dorsal plate, or by both. In this and in 
S. micranthum there is no dorsal plate, but the occlusion of the mouth of the spur by 
calli is complete. Moreover, both of them have the facies rather of Cleisostoma than of 
Saccolabium. The difficulty which we found in dealing with Saccolabium trichromum, 
which has calli and а ventral plate in its spur, was met, as is explained in the note 
following our description of that species, by retaining it as an aberrent Saccolabium 
rather than by making a new genus for it, its facies being that of the latter genus. 
PLATE. 813.—Cleisostoma gemmatum, King and Pantling. А plant, of natural size. Fig. 1 part of 
rachis, ovary and flower, side view, 2 bract, ovary, column with anther in situ, and lip, side view, 3 column, 
4 section of column and lip, 5 anther, side view, 6 pollinia, caudicle and gland before depression, side 
view, 7 and 8 the same after depression ; ай enlarged. 
Е 
53. Stereochilus, Lindl 
Epiphytal. Stem short. Leaves coriaceous, narrowly oblong, usually bifid at the apex. 
Racemes extra-axillary, drooping, lax, many-flowered, glandular-pubescent, (glabrous in one 
species). Sepals sub-equal, spreading. Petals smaller than the sepals, spreading. Lip 
about as long as the sepals, fleshy, sessile on the base of the column, spurred, obscurely 
3-lobed ; the side-lobes small, triangular, erect, acute or minutely bifid ; the apical lobe 
much larger, concave; the interior of the spur occluded by two antero-posterior thick 
calli. Column short, nearly straight; rostellum subulate, horizontal, directed forwards or 
to one side. Anther depressed, apical, with a long beak; pollinia four, plano-convex, 
Axx. Кот. Dor. Gard., Cazcurra, Vor. ҮШ. 
