1896.] G. King & R. Pantling— New Orchids from SiJckim. 123 



SARCANTHUS, Lindl. 



Sarcanthus bambusarum, n. spec. Stem only "5 to 1 in. long. 

 Leaves 2 to 4, fleshy, linear, keeled, sub-acute, 3 to 6 in. long and '3 to 

 '35 in. broad. Peduncle and raceme pendulous, equalling or exceeding the 

 leaves, the former with a few distant narrow clasping sheaths about 

 '25 in. long ; raceme rather sparsely-flowered, about equal in length to 

 its peduncle, the rachis grooved ; floral bracts lanceolate, shorter than 

 the sessile ovaries. Flowers "35 in. across, yellowish, blotched with 

 brown. Dorsal sepal hooded, entire, covering the column, the laterals 

 broadly obovate with broad bases. Petals sub-rotund, clawed, half 

 hidden by the dorsal sepal. Lip with a triangular acute fleshy midlobe, 

 two large rectangular basal lobes, and a short horizontal widely funnel- 

 shaped septate spur ; upper surface of the lip with a callus midway, 

 the entrance to the spur closed by the long thin septum the tip of 

 which rests on the labellar callus. Column short with a fleshy in- 

 curved arm on each side of the rostellum. Pollinia in 2 flattened pairs ; 

 the gland minute, cordate. 



Sikkim ; at Sembree, elevation 1,500 feet ; in flower during May. 

 Pantling No. 211. 



Mr. Pantling's .field note on this very interesting little species is 

 as follows : -" All my 128 specimens were gathered on living Bamboos, 

 upon which only this plant appears to grow. It takes up its quarters 

 at the origin of the branches from the stems, the roots obtaining their 

 nutriment from the decaying bracts and scales ; no plants were found 

 attached to the internodes of the stems." 



CLEISOSTOMA, Blume. 



Cleisostoma armigera, n. spec. Erect, rigid, glabrous, 4 to 8 in. 

 high. Leaves rather distant, semi-terete with acute spinous points and 

 wrinkled sheathing bases, cellular when dry ; length 2" 5 to 3 in. and 

 about '25 in. in thickness. Racemes about '5 in. long, on short pedun- 

 cles. Flowers '25 in. across, crowded; floral bracts lanceolate, shorter than 

 the subsessile ovaries. Sepals sub-equal, broadly ovate, acute, concave, 

 spreading, much larger than the lanceolate petals. Lip with an ovate 

 obtuse midlobe, slightly concave and with a large callus on its disc, 

 the side lobes small erect and triangular ; spur horizontal, stout, 

 blunt, about as long as the lip, non-septate ; columnar callus recurved, 

 dilated at its upper margin and prolonged into two diverging teeth, 

 bipartite below, resting on the labellar callus and thus closing the 

 entrance to the spur. Pollinia in 2 pairs, the caudicles with slightly 

 incurved margins ; gland large, its margins decurved: 



Sikkim ; common in tropical valleys, flowering time September. 



