]28 



column. Column not nearly as high as the top of the galea ; 

 lower angle of the wings blunt, ciliated ; upper angle produced 

 into a long sharp point ; anther oblique, hinged, 2-celled. 

 Stigma prominent, bilobed, ovate-lanceolate, point down- 

 wards. 



Microtis parviflora, Br. 



This somewhat ill-defined species has a very wide distribu- 

 tion. It has been recorded from all the States of the Common- 

 wealth with the exception of our own, and it extends into 

 New Caledonia, the Indian Archipelago, and Southern China. 

 Its name does not appear in Mueller's Census, as that botanist 

 includes it under M. jporri folia of Sprengel. Bentham 

 describes it as a species, though with some reservations. He 

 thinks that at least it should claim the distinction of ''a well- 

 marked variety." Through the courtesy of Professor Ewart, 

 of Melbourne, I have had the opportunity of examining speci- 

 mens of this plant from Queensland, the Port Jackson dis- 

 trict, and Western Australia, which have passed through the 

 hands of Bentham, who had access to the type. These speci- 

 mens show considerable variation, especially in the form of the 

 labellum. The same thing is noticeable in plants in my own 

 collection from eastern and western localities. This plant in its 

 most common or sparsely-spiked form differs very materially 

 in habit from Microtis ^porrifolia, and I have reason to believe 

 that it differs also in its mode of pollination. The northern 

 type, so common in Queensland, appears to be quite distinct 

 morphologically from porrifolia, and to conform most closely 

 to Brown's description. It would seem as though, instead of 

 a reduction of this species, further differentiation is needed. 

 The custom has been to include under this species plants with 

 the narrow or oblong form of labellum, without due regard to 

 the number or situation of callosities on the lamina and with- 

 out too much insistence upon the integrity of the margins 

 of the latter. The plant is slender, the flowers are smaller 

 than in the case of M . forrifolia, and usually situated distantly 

 from each other on the spike. Sometimes, however, this last 

 character is reversed, and the inflorescence occurs in the form 

 of a dense spike (var. densijiorci) . 



The following is a description of the South Australian 

 form: — A rather tall, very slender plant, from 7 in. to 17 in. 

 in height ; fistula of leaf situated nearer the base than the 

 spike, the leaf itself generally reaching higher than the bottom 

 of the spike. Flowers green, in a sparse spike, each subtended 

 by an acute bract which exceeds the pedicel in length ; pedicel 

 slender, about a line long. Dorsal sepal hooded, acuminate, 

 rather less than a line in length. Lateral sepals about same 

 length as dorsal sepal, lanceolate, revolute in the mature 



