54 EHYNCHOSTYLIS. 



var. — guttata. 



Leaves longer, narrower, and more closely set on the stem, sub-pendulous, 

 not arching. Flowers somewhat smaller, more crowded, and often more 

 densely spotted, 



R. retusa guttata, Hchb. in Walp. Ann. VI. p. 8S7 (1864). R. guttata, Rchb. in 

 Bonpl. II. t. 93. Saccolabium guttatum, Lindl. Gren. et Sp. Orch. p. 220. Id. in 

 .Tourn. Linn. Soc. 111. p. 32. Bot. Mag. t 4108. Warner's Sel. Orch. II. t. 18 

 (Holfordianum). S. Rheedii, Wight, Icon. PI. Ind. or. 1346—7. (1852). Sarcanthus 

 guttatus, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. t. 1443 (1831). Aerides guttatum, Regel's Garlcnjl. 

 1863, t. 415. Epidendrum retusum, L. Sp. pi. 1351. (1753). 



var — prsemorsa . 



Plant more robust. Leaves sliovtor and broader, spreading, more 

 di.-^tant and distinctly premorse at the apex. Racciucs longer Flowers 

 usually paler and with fewer spots. 



R. retusa pnciuorsa, Rclib. in Walp. Ann. VI., p. 887. It. prajmorsa Bl. Bijdr., 



p. 286. Saccolabium pnumorsum, LindL Gen. et Sp. Orch. p. 221. S. guttatum 



giganteum, Godefroy's OrcMdopliile, 1888, p. 272. 



Rhijuciiostijlis retusa is one of the most widely distributed of 

 Indian orchids ; the geographical area over which it is spread is 

 probably as great or even greater than that occupied by any other 

 epiphytal species.* It is found in nearly all parts of Hindostan where 

 the climatic conditions ai'e such as to allow it to live and thrive ; 

 also in Ceylon ; it is scarcely less abundant in the British provinces 

 in the eastern peninsula, especially in the plains of Lower Burmah^f 

 whence it spreads southwards into Java, where it is common, and 

 where it has established itself in immense numbers in the Teak 

 plantations formed by the Dutch in that colony. Over so extensive 

 a region the plant is found to preserve a remarkable uniformity in 

 the size and colour of its flowers, while in habit its variability is 

 more pronounced, the forms described above being well marked in 

 that respect, and not likely to be confused with each other. 



The following graphic account of this orchid as seen in the south of 

 India is communicated by " J. L." to The Garden, XXXVIII. (1890), 

 p. 607: — -"In jMalabar it mostly aflfects the jungle and marshy banks of 

 sluggish-flowing rivers thick with trees of low stature and thorny iinder- 

 growth composed of Solanum ferox, spiny Acacias, and the like, where 

 croak innumerable frogs, speaking eloquently of malaria, ague, and fever, 

 and where crawls the deadly cobra, and where other reptiles and insects 

 of strange appearance are abundant. In tlie midst of such surroundings, 

 pendent from the branches of trees, may be seen the charming blooms of 

 the Saccolabium (Rliynchostylis) spreading a fragrance around which compels 



* Cattleya lahiata and its varieties extend over the South American continent from Rio de 

 Janeiro to Darien ; but the interval which separates the Brazilian type from its Colombian 

 varieties is probably immensely in excess of the area over which C. labiata is actually spread. 



t Col. Benson in Gard. Chron. 1870, p. 796. 



