324 THE ORCHID REVIEW. [NOVEMBER, Ig10s 
from a somewhat different branch. The three genera of Catasetide are very 
much alike in habit, so much so that they cannot always be distinguished 
when out of bloom. In floral character, however, they are very distinct. 
Mormodes contains upwards of thirty species, and is characterised by its 
hermaphrodite flowers, and the twisted column and lip, which give a 
peculiar appearance to the inflorescence. The flowers are borne in two 
rows, those on the left side being twisted so as to face the left, and those on 
the other side to the right. The lip is narrowed at the base, and much dilated 
and strongly reflexed or revolute above, where it is firmly pressed down on the 
pointed apex of the column. The pollinia are forcibly ejected when an 
insect alights on the flower, and touches a small sensitive portion of the 
column, this action liberating the stipes which is curved round the rostellum. 
The one-sided arrangement of the inflorescence affords a clear space for the 
ejection of the pollinia and their adhesion to the visiting insects. The 
species vary greatly in colour and detail, and several of them are in 
cultivation. 
Catasetum is a large and polymorphic genus, differing from Mormodes 
in having unisexual flowers, and in the absence of twisting in the column 
and lip. Upwards of eighty species have been described, and they fall into 
four natural sections. The females are remarkably different from the males 
in structure, and were formerly placed in a separate genus (Monachanthus) 
by Lindley. A second group was separated by Lindley, under the name of 
Myanthus, which is now considered to form a section of Catasetum only. 
It may be remembered that Darwin, when pointing out that Monachanthus 
was the female of Catasetum, thought that Myanthus represented a third or 
hermaphrodite condition, which is now known to be erroneous. 
The characters of the four sections of Catasetum may be briefly pointed 
out. In Pseudocatasetum the lip is hood-shaped and superior, often with 
a ciliate margin, while the column is short and broad, but without antenne, 
though the pollinia are forcibly ejected when a sensitive portion of the 
column is tonched. The female is very similar to the male in appearance, 
but rather larger and without pollinia. The principal species are C. 
discolor, C. ciliatum, and C. longifolium, while the imperfectly known C. 
cassideum is suspected to be the female of one of the two former. The 
section Ecirrhose contains C. Russellianum, thylaciochilum, Warscewiczil, 
scurra, and roseum, and the male sex only is known. In these the lip is 
inferior, and variously expanded, while the column is without antenne, 
though in C. Russellianum the face of the column is sensitive, and when 
touched the stipes immediately drops down, and the gland would thus. 
become fixed to the back of the visiting insect. 
In Eucatasetum the lip is uppermost and more or less galeate in both: 
sexes, while the rostellum of the male is prolonged into a pair of antenne, 
