THE ORCHID REVIEW. 



2 2i) 



green, while that of M. muscosa is about half the size, and has the petiole 

 dull purple. In the latter the scapes are single-flowered, but in the former 

 several flowers appear in succession, up to eight or nine in one of the dried 

 specimens. The flowers are also rather larger, and, instead of being light- 

 yellow, are greenish brown, with traces of darker spots, and stouter purple- 

 brown tails. The lip is very similar to the perianth in colouring, but agrees 

 with M. muscosa in structure, except that the crest is more than twice as 

 high, and the hairs on the front lobe more prominent. The petals are red- 

 purple with greenish tips, instead of yellow, and the nerves of the dorsal 

 sepal are red-purple inside. In the hairy peduncles they are remarkably 

 alike. 



M. erinacea has also the flowers racemose, but, according to 

 Reichenbach, the flower "has little prickles at the margin of the sepals and 

 on the middle nerve, besides different colours." M. Echidna is described in 

 too general terms to say just what its differences are. 



It may be added that Reichenbach originally described M. muscosa as 

 •" pedunculo subbifloro, floribus heterochronicis," but as he afterwards 

 confirmed the determation of M. muscosa, from a flower sent to him, we 

 may infer that the plant now in gardens is correctly named. It is believed 

 not to be part of the original stock (it is not clear whether Mr. Bull ever 

 had living plants), for it was only identified from description when a plant 

 of it flowered at Kew, and it was afterwards found that this came from 

 Messrs. Hugh Low & Co., who had more plants of it. 



It was not found possible to experiment with a single, slightly withered 

 flower of M. Xipheres, but from the similar structure and organisation it is 

 highly probable that it also has a sensitive lip, and indeed the two other 

 species of the group. This character, as observed in M. muscosa, may be 

 briefly described as follows :— When the flower opens, the triangular blade 

 of the lip is folded against the apex of the petals, but subsequently turns 

 outwards on a hinge, then appearing to hang beneath the flower. This 

 exposes a yellow ridge on the lip, which is endowed with irritability, and 

 when this is touched with a hair, or when a small fly settles on it, the lip 

 immediately begins to fold up, at first somewhat slowly, and then 

 suddenly, in the latter case closing the insect as it were in a little box. 

 But there is then a small opening between the arched tip of the petals and 

 the anther case, and in crawling through this the insect would inevitably 

 bring away the pollinia, and on subsequently visiting another flower, where 

 the process would be repeated, the pollinia would be left upon the stigma, 

 and fertilisation effected. The effect of fertilisation upon the action of the 



known, but failing this the lip unfolds agan 



»se of about 

 ; ready to repeat the process. It 

 may also be added that the lip folds up again at night. The mossy 



