DENDEOBIUM. 77 



distal half. Flowers about 2 inches in diameter, rich crimson-purple, 



the sepals and petals generally paler at the base and bordered with 



white ; sepals oblong-obtuse, reflexed, undulate ; petals broader, obovate • 



lip shorter than the other segments, three-lobed ; the lateral lobes 



rotund, erect, or incurved ; the middle lobe oblong, reflexed, wavy ; 



disc with three denticulate lamellae tbat are white at the edge ; spur 



short, funnel-shaped. Column purple, anther white. 



Dendrobium superbiens, Rchb. in Gard. ChroD. VI. (1876), p. 516. Id. IX. (1878), 

 p. 40. Flor. Mag. n. s. t. 294. Fitzgerald's Orch. Austral. II. part I. Sander's 

 Reichenbachia, I. p. 87, t. 39. D. Goldiei, Echb. in Gard. Chron. IX. (1878), 

 t. 145. The Garden, XIV. (1878), t. 145. 



One of the most striking of the Australian Dendrobes. It is a 



native of York Peninsula and some of the islands in Torres Straits, 



whence it was introduced by us, in 1876, through the late Sir 



William Macarthur, of Camden Park, near Sydney, New South 



.Wales. The flowers, which are developed in the autumn months, 



vary considerably in size and colour. 



D. superbum. 



Eudendrobium — Fasciculcita. Stems terete, stoutish, pendent, 2\ — 4 

 feet long. Leaves oblong-lanceolate, acute, 5 — 6 inches long, deciduous. 

 Flowers with a powerful odour of rhubarb, usually in pairs along 

 the distal half of the stems, 3—4 niches in diameter, rich magenta- 

 purple with the basal half of the lip deep sanguineous purple; sepals 

 oblong-lanceolate, acute ; petals ovate-oblong, nearly as broad again as 

 the sepals ; lip with a short, broad, convolute claw, aud cordate, 

 acuminate blade, of which the upper surface is pubescent and the 

 margin denticulate. 



Dendrobium superbum, Rcbb. in Walp. Ann. VI. p. 282 (1861). Williams' Orch. 

 Alb. I. t. 42. D. macrophyllum, Lindl. Bot. Reg. 1839, misc. 46. Id. Sert. Orch. 

 t. 35. Hook. Cent. Orch. t. 12. Va.xt.Mag. Bot. VIII. p. 97. Linden's Pesc. t. 40. 

 Warner's Set. Orch. I. t. 26 (giganteum). De Puydt, Les Orch. t. 17. D. macranthum' 

 Hook. Bot. Mag. t. 3970. Van Houtte's Fl. des Serres, VIII. t. 757. 



. var. — anosmum. 



Stems much shorter than in the typical Dendrobium superbum; 



flowers more commonly solitary than in pairs, almost scentless, and 



with all the segments shorter, broader, and not undulate. 



D. superbum anosmum, Rchb. in Walp. Ann. loc. cit. supra. D. macropbyllum 

 anosmum, Lindl. Bot. Reg. 1845, misc. 41. D. anosmum, Paxt. Mag. Bot. XV. p. 97 

 (1849). D. macrophyllum Dayanum, Hort. 



SUb-vars.— Burke's (Gard. Chron. XXI. (1884), p. 306), sepals and petals 

 white, as is also the anterior lobe of the lip, the convolute basal part 

 of which is pale purple ; Colonel Deare's, flowers of the purest white, 

 sepals and petals somewhat more acute than the type ; Hutton's (Gard. 

 Chron. 1869, p. 1206), stems somewhat slender; flowers white, except 

 the basilar portion of lip which is deep purple. 



