5. Prasophyllum. ORCHIDACEAE. 127 



9. P. fuscum (dusky, referring to color of flowers in Tasmania and eastern States), 

 R. Br. Of slender habit. 15-30 cm. high. Flowers green, sometimes yellowish-green, 

 standing well out from axis of spike ; ovary turgid, relatively large in comparison with 

 the rest of the flower ; spike not very crowded. Dorsal sepal nearly 6 mm. long, ovate- 

 lanceolate, generally erect, rarely recurved ; lateral sepals rather longer, about 6| mm., 

 quite free, parallel, lanceolate, with usually cylindrical bidentate points. Petals about 

 4§ mm. long, bluntly linear, erect. Labellum sessile, ovate-cuneate, recurved very nearly 

 at a right angle about the middle ; erect part bulging with entire margins ; recurved 

 part acute with crisped margins ; callous plate occupying relatively large part of the 

 lamina, not well marked near the base, increasing in thickness beyond the bend, and 

 almost reaching to the extreme tip ; lamina with a tooth -like lanceolate appendage 

 reaching to the lower border of the stigma. Anther erect, without a point, about same 

 height as rostellum. Lateral appendages very wide and blunt, oblong or almost quadrate, 

 about as high as anther, free from stigmatic- plate, with relatively large basal lobes reaching 

 beyond the middle. Stigma reniform just below the short rostellum. 



N.P. ; widely distributed on plains, hills, and Kangaroo Island ; also all Eastern States. 

 Sept. -Oct. 



10. P. Fitzgeraldii fatter R. D. Fitzgerald, the well-known Australian Orchidologist), 

 Rogers et Maiden. Usually stouter than the preceding species, 15-45 cm. high. Flowers 

 sessile or almost so, prevailing tints prune-color and green ; very fragrant ; standing 

 well out from the vertical axis ; ovary turgid ; expansion beginning in middle of spike, 

 extending upwards and downwards. Dorsal sepal about 6 mm. long, greenish, broadly 

 lanceolate, flat, retracted, recurved at the very acute apex in mature flower ; lateral 

 sepals dull-green, free in mature flower, 6-6^ mm. long, lanceolate. Petals green with 

 dark-red longitudinal stripe, bluntly linear, about 4-5 mm. long, slightly divergent. 

 Labellum prune -colored, sessile, slightly contracted at the base ; recurved almost at right 

 angles about the middle; erect portion with entire margins, rather bulging; recurved 

 portion broadly triangular with much crisped borders ; callous portion deep prune-colored, 

 not very conspicuous in basal half, becoming more raised and pubescent at the bend 

 and ending abruptly near the tip ; membraneous part of lighter hue and rather smaller 

 extent. Anther reddish-brown with rather blunt point, erect, but recurved after removal 

 of the pollinia. Rostellum about same height as lateral appendages and rather higher 

 than anther. Pollinia 2, vertically bilobed. Caudicle rather short. Lateral appendages 

 membranous, very wide, with truncate tips, quadrangular or almost so with basal lobe 

 reaching to the middle, only adnate to the sides of stigmatic -plate at the extreme base. 

 Stigma wide, almost rectangular. 



N.P. ; and other parts of Mount Lofty Range. Sparsely distributed. October. 



11. P. nigricans (blackish), R. Br. A diminutive species 5-12 cm. high ; arising from 

 a globular tuber with succeeding season's tuber attached, tubers and base of stem invested 

 in thick fibrous sheaths. Leaf -lamina at time of flowering reduced to a small sheathing 

 bract near the inflorescence. Flowers on very short pedicels, minute, dark-purple (rarely 

 green), deflexed, in a rather dense pyramidal spike, expanding uniformly from below up- 

 wards. Dorsal sepal rather broadly hood -shaped, erect, with short acute recurved tip, 

 greenish or purple, about 2 \ mm. long ; lateral sepals free except at their extreme base, 

 about 3 mm. long, green, cylindrico-lanceolate, widely diverging, not bulging much at 

 base. Petals slightly shorter than dorsal sepal, about 2 mm. long, triangular-lanceolate, 

 purplish. Labellum dark-purple and very glandular, about as long as the dorsal sepal ; 

 somewhat oblong but gradually widening from the base towards the apex, where it abruptly 

 narrows to a short acute recurved tip ; attached to the foot of column by a semicircular 

 movable claw ; margins minutehy crenulate towards the tip, otherwise entire ; callous 

 portion oblong, slightly raised, occupving more than half of the lamina, slightly channelled, 

 reaching nearly to the apex ; membranous part forming a rather narrow border round 

 the callous plate. Anther incurved, the point at first soft, inflexed over the viscid disk, 

 later hardening and becoming more vertical. Portion of column below the anther con- 

 siderably longer than the anther itself. Pollinia 2. attached by a rather short caudicle 

 to the ovate viscid disk of the rostellum ; the latter rather shorter than the anther. 

 Lateral appendages almost as long as the petals, bifid, the front claw longer than the 

 back one ; reaching to the level of the anther-point. Stigma oval. 



N.P. ; and other parts of Mount Lofty Range ; Myponga ; Yankalilla ; Victor 

 Harbor ; Millicent ; Halbury ; Yeelanna ; Kangaroo Island ; also in all eastern States 

 and Tasmania. April. 



12. P. fuscoviride (dusky -green), Reader. Habit, root and leaf as in the last species. 

 Flowers minute green or yellowish -green, with dark-purple labellum, sessile, deflexed, 

 in a rather crowded spike ; their expansion usually occurring from below upwards, but 

 often following a spiral course. Dorsal sepal about 3 mm. long, green, widely lanceolate, 

 concave, with recurved point ; lateral sepals as long, green, free except at extreme base, 

 lanceolate, widely diverging. Petals green with reddish central stripe, about 2 mm. long, 

 linear-lanceolate tipped with a small stalked gland. Labellum of variable shape, usually 

 oblong-ovate, dark reddish-brown or purple, about 2 mm. long, on a movable hinge ; tip 



