22 oxLViii, ORCHiDEa!. (J. D. Hooker.) [Ploaoglottis. 



2. P, javanloa, Blume SijAr. 380, t. 21 ; Orchid. ArcUp. Ind. t._ 14 ; 

 MuB. Sot. i. 46 ; leaf solitary, bracts short ovate, raceme glabrous. Lindl. 

 Gen. 8f 8p. Orchid. 133. 



Pbrak, alt. 3-1200 ft., ScortecJimi, King's Oollector. — Distbib. Java. 



Leaf-blade 10-12 by 3-4 in., as long as the very slender petiole. Scope much 

 longer than the leaf, very slender ; raceme 8- 10 in. ; bracts \-j( in. , often recurved ; 

 flowers f in. diam., pale yellow speckled with red ; dorsal sepal long, arched, nar- 

 rowly lanceolate ; lateral oblong-lanceolate, falcate, acute ; petals narrowly oblanceo- 

 late, falcate ; lip broadly obovate, angles and tip rounded, acuminate or cuspidate ; 

 spur a gibbosity. — A Plocoglottis from Malacca, Maingay, resembles this, but has a 

 shorter raceme, and is described (by Maingay) as having obtuse sepals ; the specimen 

 is flowerless 



49. XiTTXSXA, Gaud, 



Tufted epiphytes ; stem terete, rigid, sheathed, pseudobulbs 0. Leaves 

 elongate, terete, obtuse. Flowers drooping, small, spioate on a short or 

 very stout erect axillary raohis ; bracts very short, thick, imbricating, per- 

 sistent. Sepals subeqnal or the decurved dorsal smaller. Petals often 

 longer, narrower. Lip sessile on the base of the column, base flat concave 

 or saccate. Column very short, truncate ; anther 2-celled ; poUinia 2, sub- 

 globose, seated on a replicate short strap. Capsule narrow, erect. — Species 

 about 15, tropical Asia to N. Caledonia. 



The materials at my disposal for the elucidation of this remarkable genus are, 

 though considerable, far from being sufficient. Above all careful drawings for living 

 plants should be obtained, when the following attempt at diagnosing the Indian 

 species will want revision and probably correction. 



* Petals not much longer than the lateral sepals {most so in L. primulina). 



1. Xi. teretifolia, Gaud. Bot. Freyc. Toy. 427, t. 37 ; leaves 4-6 in., 

 flowers small, lateral sepa,ls subacute keel winged, petals linear-oblong 

 obtuse hardly longer than the sepals, hypochile snbquadrate saccate, epi- 

 chile broadly cordate. Blume Bumph. i. t. 194, f. 3, t. 197 D ; Mus. Bot. 

 i. 63 ; Lindl. Fol. Orchid. 2 (excl. in all Syn. Fp. triste). L. burmanica, 

 Lindl. I. c. L. brachystaohys, var. flaveola. Par. & Reichh. f. in Trans. 

 Linn. Soc. xxx. 144. L. platyglossa, Feichb. f. in Whip. Ann. vi. 622. 

 L. zeylanica, Lindl. I. c. Oymbidium triste, Booch. Fl. Ind. iii. 461 {not of 

 Willd.) ; Bot. Mag. t. 3648 ; Wight Ic. v. 11 {text, not Ic.) ; Griff. Notul. iii. 

 340 (the Mergui plant). 0. tenuifolium, Wight I. u. 1. 1689 (ic., not text). 



SiKKiM Himalaya (7c. Gathcart). The Khasia Mts., at Churra (7c. Jerdon). 

 Benoalj in the Sunderbunds, Soxhurgh. Peotj and Tenassebim, Cfriffith, &c. 

 The Wbbtekn Ghats, from Canara to Travancore. Cbtlon, Macrae, &c. — DrsTBiB. 

 Malay Islands to New Caledonia. 



Stem 6-12 in., stout j internodes J-f in. Leaves variable in thickness. Eachis 

 of spike -^^ in. Petals J-J in. long. Lip equalling or rather exceeding the sepals. 

 Column very short. Capsule f-li in. — ^Blume erred in referring Willdenow's 

 Cymhidium triste to Gaudichaud's Luisia teretifolia. The latter appears to accord 

 with the Indian plant, and Wight's t. 1689 is very characteristic. Blume's t. 194 has 

 larger flowers. A coloured drawing of Lindley's burmanica by Griffith is excellent. 

 The petals vary in length and form, but never much exceed the sepals. The lip is lu 

 five Indian drawings purple. Blume figures a purple hypochile and yellow epichile 

 with purple disk. Koxburgh describes the lip as dark purple with yellow spots. 

 Griffith figures it green with black purple blotches. Wight says, " Flowers pale pink, 

 lip conformable, afterwards purple." In var. flaveola, Par. & B. f., the flowers 

 are yellow, the hypochile purple and epichile streaked with purple. Lindley's 

 L. zeylanica (Macrae, 1829) is identical with the Peninsular species, but there are 

 along with it flowers of a different and a garden plant, which he referred to Vanda 

 triehorMza, Hook. Reichenbach's L. brachystachys, founded on Wight's t. 1689, is 



