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122 DIAGNOSES SPECIERUM NOVARUM. 
Roscoea Humeana,* Balf. f. et W. W.Sm. Sp. nov. 
Species affinis R. Chamaeleoni, Gagnep. sed habitu minus 
praecociore, floribus permagnis, labello lobis corollae lateralibus 
breviore inter alia signa divergit. 
Herba perennis pro genere robusta ad 20 cm. alta. Radices 
fusiformes plurimae fasciculatae. WVaginae epigaeae 2-3 virides 
glabrae. Folia sub anthesi + evoluta, nonnunquam paulo 
seriora, 4—6, late lanceolata vel ovato-lanceolata sessilia arcte 
imbricata basi longe vaginantia caulem omnino celantia, sub- 
acuta haud acuminata utrinque glabra 10-20 cm. longa usque ad 
6 cm. lata. Spica 2~8-flora folia summa haud superans, sessilis 
nec ope pedunculi elevata; bracteae lanceolatae subacutae 
virides foliaceae glabrae ad 6 cm. longae. Flores violaceo- 
purpurei maximi. Calyx usque ad 10 cm. longus anguste 
tubulosus apice bilobulatus tenuiter membranaceus glaber. 
Corollae tubus nunc calycem aequans nunc triente longior ; 
lobus posticus + 4 cm. longus medio 3 cm. latus basi -- 8 mm. 
latus, erectus concavus apice rotundatus apiculatus; lobi 
laterales oblanceolati 4-4.5 cm. longi medio 1. 5 cm. lati obtusius- 
culi; labelli limbus ad 2.5 cm. longus, circ. 3 cm. latus ambitu 
iregulariter subquadratus usque ad unguem rigidum 1.5 cm. 
longum fissus. Staminodia lateralia 1.7 cm. longa asymmetrice . 
oblanceolata alba purpureo-tincta ; filamentum erectum circ. 
5 mm. longum + 3 mm. latum canaliculatum; anthera -- 1.2 
cm. longa basi in duo calcaria parallela 5 mm. longa viridi-lutea 
provecta. Stigma turbinatum pilosum; stylus ad 10 cm. 
longus; ovarium cylindricum glabrum circ. I cm. longum. 
Typi ex horto exsiccati in Herb. Edin. conservati. 
West China :—Province of Yunnan. Cultivated in the Royal 
Botanic Garden from seeds secured by Mr. George Forrest. 
It flowered freely in June 1912, 1913, 1914, and 1915. It is the 
finest species as yet known in the genus, and apparently quite 
hardy. Its large flowers are of a beautiful violet to bluish- 
purple, and occur in compact spikes of 4-8 flowers at the same 
time as the leaves, occasionally to some extent precocious. The 
affinity of this plant is undoubtedly with R. Chamaeleon, Gagnep.; 
it differs from the plant described by Gagnepain in the less pre- 
cocious habit, in the much larger flowers, and in the lateral lobes 
of the corolla exceeding the labellum, which has lobes oblique 
reniform and-not lanceolate. K. Schumann in his Monograph of 
the Zingiberaceae (Engler’s Das Pflanzenreich, 1904), p. 122, gives 
additional notes on the dimensions of Gagnepain’s plant—calyx 
* The specific name is given to keep in memory Private David Hume, tst 
Batt. The Royal Scots, a young gardener of the staff of the Royal Botanic Garden, 
dinburgh, who fell in action during the retreat from Mons on 26th August rg14. 
