Herminium.'] cxlviii. obchide^. (J. T>. Hooker.) 131 



Stem with spike 4-6'in. Leaves 2, towards the base of the stem, 1-li in:, long, 

 oblanceolate ; bracts much shorter than the ovaries which are i in. long, curved j 

 flowers Jj in. diam. j sepals and petals 1-nerved, all membranous ; antber-cells rather 

 divergent, ^.ollinia clavate, gland orbicular translucent ; stigmatic processes obscure ; 

 rostellum minute. — A very distinct little species, but the flowers are so minute that 

 I cannot satisfactorily analyze the column. 



9. K. gramineum, Lindl. in Wall. Cat. 7413 ; Gen. & Sp. Orchid. 

 305 ; very slender, 1-leaved, spike lax-fld., flowers minute seound suberect, 

 bracts subulate equalling the ovary, petals erect linear subfalcate, lip 

 ovate acuminate equalling or shorter than the sepals. Soi/le III. t. 87. 

 Neottia monophylla, Don. Prodr. 27. Spiranthes monophylla, Spreng. 

 Syst. Veg. iii. 709. 



Wbsteen and Central Himalaia ; Nepal, Wallich ; Kuniaon and Garwhal, alt. 

 5-8000 ft. 



Plant 2-6 in. IJeo/linear, acute, as long as the scape or longer. Sj)siel-3J in. ; 

 rachis striated with rough ridges ; perianth ^-J in. diam. ; dorsal sepal oblong or 

 broadly ovate, lateral ovate obtuse spreading ; petals as long as the sepals, obtuse, 

 thick J lip flat, with a concave base, variable in breadth, slightly saccate beneath ; 

 anther-cells parallel, pollinia subglobose, caudicles short, glands large shining coria- 

 ceous brown ; stigmatic processes low ; rostellum very large, as long as the anther, 

 recurved, retuse, fleshy. 



106. BABENA.RIA, Willd. 



Terrestrial leafy herbs with, undivided or lobed tubers, and fleshy 

 radical fibres. Leaves not plaited, bases sheathing. Flowers spioate or 

 racemed. Sepals subequal or the dorsal shortest, lateral ascending spread- 

 ing reflexed or deflexed. Petals smaller or larger, simple or cleft (sect. 

 Ate). Lip continuous with the base of the column, entire 3-lobed or 

 3-partite, base spurred. Anther adnate to tbe very short column, cells 

 parallel or divergent below, bases often produced into a long or short 

 tube ; pollinia clavate or pyriform ; oaudicle long, short, or 0, sometimes 

 winged, glands exposed, rarely overlapped by the rostellum ; staminodes 

 granular surfaces on the side of the anther, rarely elongate ; stigma a 

 single or double viscid area on the column below the anther, or two globose 

 or clavate processes ; rostellum usually small and erect between the cells 

 of the anther, rarely wholly obsolete. — Species about 400, temperate and 

 tropical. 



After devoting many months to the examination of the Indian species of 

 Sabenaria, I propose the following grouping of them into sections as tentative only. 

 I accept Bentham's view, that the genera which he has brought under it (in Gen. 

 Plant.) cannot be separated from one another by natural or artificial characters. 

 To these Herminium should be added, were it not for the consequent disturbance of 

 much nomenclature and the multiplication of synonyms ; and so should also be 

 Diplomeris and Hemipilia, which, though they have recognizable differential charac- 

 ters, these are of less importance than those of the four last sections here adopted. 



Of all the floral organs of the genus, that of the rostellum is the most difficult of 

 analysis ; and in the minute flowered species especially, of definition also. In respect 

 of its relation to the glands of the pollinia it is often in moistened herbarium specimens 

 impossible to determine whether the rostellum nearly overlaps these, or holds them 

 exposed between its folds, or forms pouches beneath them, or a flap over them. By 

 means alone of careful drawings of the rostellum of all the species made from living 

 plants, can its modifications of form be understood ; but 1 doubt whether even this 

 will help much towards the classification of the species, for I think its value in this 

 respect has been gieatly overrated in both Ophrydece and VandeiB. 



K 2 



