THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 133 
Prerostytis, (R. Brown.) 
Dorsal sepal broad, erect, incurved and very concave; petals 
lanceolate falcate, contracted at the base and attached to the basal 
projection of the column, faleate and curved under the dorsal sepal, 
nearly as long and forming with it an arched or hood-shaped upper 
lip or galea. Labellum on a short claw at the end of the basal 
projection of the column, moveable. Column elongated within the 
galea, and curved with it. Stigma oblong on the face of the column. 
Anther erect, the cells distinct, 2-valved. Pollen masses granular, 
Radical leaves somewhat ovate. Flowers usually green, often 
streaked with red, purple, or brown, large and solitary, or smaller, 
and several in a raceme on short pedicels. I have adopted the plan 
of Bentham and Mueller in the “ Flora,” and have placed them in 
sections and series for easier comparison, commencing with— 
ANTENNA, lower lip erect, the lobes or their points 
embracing the galea. 
Series [. GraNnpDIFLORA, 
Prerostyiis Cucunztata, (Brown.) 
This sp. is the largest, and perhaps the finest of the Victorian sp., 
and may be easily recognised by its large green flowers, striped with 
an almost transparent white, and for the size of flower its somewhat 
small leaves are peculiar. In the grasslands of Pakenham, Berwick, 
Oakleigh, &c., this beautiful sp. may be found growing in great 
abundance, although this dwarf plant will sometimes be found “drawn 
up” in damp places between Melaleuca scrub, to a height of several 
feet. To grow it well, it should be potted in strong sandy loam, 
and kept damp, and as it is easily grown, and dries beautifully, it is 
well worthy of a foremost place in a collection of Victorian orchide. 
Itmay be interesting to mention that the type of P. cucullata, ismuch 
smaller and less robust than the variety mentioned here as grandiflora, 
and the very curious form found by myself in 1866, is certainly a most 
distinct one. Another slender form was found at Brighton by Mr. 
Dixon and myself, and this the Baron determined to be the variety 
of scabrida, which is somewhat rare in the heath ground near the 
coast. Flowers from November to January. Found also in 
Tasmania and in South Australia. P dubia and P. scabrida, are 
synonymous with this sp. 
P. rurcara, (Lindley.) 
This sp., the specimens of which were collected at Bolwana, 
Bullarook Forest, by my son, is; as you will observe, very much like 
P. cucullata, and indeed Hooker, “Flora Tasmanica,” seems to 
think them identical, the principal difference being, as he points out, 
in the external structure of the plant, the internal parts being the 
