Polystachya. | ORCHIDE (Rolfe). 63 
VIII. POLYSTACHYA, Hook. 
Sepals connivent or somewhat spreading; dorsal free; lateral 
broader, sometimes very broad, adnate to the foot of the column. 
Petals usually narrower than the dorsal sepal. Lip superior, articu- 
lated to the foot of the column, 3-lobed or entire from a cuneate 
t at the base; anther-bed short, truncate. Anther terminal, 
operculate, incumbent, very convex, 1-celled or imperfectly 2 -celled ; 
llinia 4, waxy, broadly ovate, sometimes united in pairs, affixed to 
a short stipes and gland. Capsule oblong or fusiform, sometimes 
elongate. 
Epiphytic herbs; stems often short, ee en — pseudobulbs 
mostly saad ; leaves distichous, o oblon: narrow, often many-nerve con- 
tract ted i into sheaths at the base ; sedumia terminal, with a ‘few sheaths below, 
ood or racemose ; flowers small or medium- sized ; bracts sm: 
Dis Species over 100, widely diffused through the tropics, though rod 
Seiden majority are Fetal, The 10 South African species, so far as known, 
Seca: or pseudobulbs 2-4- leaved : 
Flowers about 4 in. long 
Leaves ae oblong, i in. broad ; inflorescence 
racemose 
.. (1) rigidula. 
Leaves <bions, . 1b in. ees ge 
aniculate : 
Side ches of lip very short and broad... ... (2) tricruris. 
Side lobes . si oblong, longer than broad ... (3) similis. 
Flowers }-4 in 
epals gree ago : 
Pocricbciin oateohons re in. peed Ve ... (4) Sandersoni, 
fo sige cylindric, or ong: : 
Leaves obtuse ; limb of ‘ip one gh ve ... (5) natalensis. 
Leaves chomebress 2-lobed ; Nari of te trans- ‘ 
= rhomboid, acumin .. (6) transvaalensis. 
Flowers . ; 
Lip vit oie obtuse front lobe --» (7) ottoniana, 
Lip with setaceous-acuminate front ee ... (8) glaberrima. 
Flowers deep yellow ... .- «ss vrs ts (9) pubescens. 
Stems slender, l-leaved .... as re wee ... (10) Gerrardi. 
1. P. rigidula (Reichb. f. in Flora, 1867, 117); se tufted, 
Scarcely thickened, 1-2 in. long, 2-4-leaved ; eaves narrowly 
oblong, obliquely and minutely bilobed, cuneate oe the base, 
coriaceous, 3-5 in. long, }-} in. broad ; scapes 5~7 in, high, erect, 
slender, unbranched, with 2 or 3 narrow sheaths below, slightly 
pubescent above; raceme 3-1} in. long, 8—15-flow ered; bracts 
ovate. paiatar soviet. qo-tp in. long ; fruiting pedicels 
long ; dorsal sepal ovate, snperat concave, +/5 in. long ; lateral popes 
triangular-ovate, acute, ;'y in. long ; ; petals oblong, subobtuse, ;'z in. 
in. 
