On some Plants in the H. C. Botanic Gardens. 363 



panding one at a time, almost immersed in the paleae, minute, 

 half-resupinate, whitish. Perianth ringent. Sepals acute, the an- 

 ticous one ovate, concave, the lateral very oblique at the base and 

 forming with the foot of the column and base of labellum a large 

 roundish sac. Petals the length of the sepals, linear-acuminate. 

 Labellum included, continuous at the base with the foot of the 

 column with which and the lateral sepals it forms the sac, 3-lobed ; 

 the lateral lobes, (up to which it is parallel with the column,) tooth- 

 shaped, erect, the central ovate- cordate, conduplicate, with minutely 

 undulate margins ; its base occupied by a sulcate subtrilobed callus. 

 Column short, roundish, obliquely ascending, almost deficient be- 

 hind, obtusely auriculate on either side at the apex, the auricles con- 

 cave and sanguineous inside. Rostellum linear-linguiform, almost ver- 

 tical, projecting beyond the auricles ; stigma vertical. Anthers dorsal, 

 fleshy, almost immersed, bilocular, cells 4-locellar. Pollen masses 

 8, clavato-pyriform, sessile on an oblong brownish gland. Ovarium 

 6-costate. 



As it agrees tolerably with Blume's character, I have re- 

 ferred it to his A. callosa. But it is to be regretted that such 

 short insufficient characters should be resorted to, when 

 such variation in form runs through so many organs. Charac- 

 ters should always be as prospective as possible, and with 

 this view should express the peculiarities of each of the 

 organs from which they can be drawn. 



The presence of the divisions on the margin of the sheaths 

 near the base of the lamina is remarkable. They are pro- 

 bably analogous to such stipulae as those of Rosa, which 

 are nothing but the lowermost undeveloped lobes of the leaf. 

 Such stipulae have not, so far as I know, been hitherto observ- 

 ed in Monocotyledons, although the possibility of their exist- 

 ence is indicated by some species of Smilax and Dioscorea. 



The section of Appendicula to which Blume refers this, 

 is closely allied to Agrostophyllum, (and perhaps to Glo- 

 mera,) from "the former of which it differs only in habit, 

 which is very peculiar, and the structure of the column. 



