152 ORCHIDACEAE. 19. Pterostylis. 



on a movable claw, almost straight, very narrow -lanceolate, tapering to an acute point, 

 slightly exceeding the column when erect ; the lamina about 10 mm. long, traversed by 

 a central raised line ; basal appendage narrow -linear, curved, penicillate. Column erect 

 about 11 mm. long ; upper angle of wings falcate, lower lobe oblong, blunt, with inturned 

 ciliated margins. Stigma prominent, bilobed, elliptical. — P. praecox, Lindl. 



Victor Harbor ; Kangaroo Island ; also New South Wales ; Victoria ; Tasmania. 

 May -July. 



11. P. obtusa (obtuse, referring to the labellum), R. Br. Very slender, glabrous, 12-25 

 cm. high. No rosette at the time of flowering. Stem-leaves usually small and bract- 

 like, 3-5, including the one subtending the floral pedicel, lanceolate, clasping at the base, 

 the upper ones longer than those below. Flower solitary, green. Galea (including the 

 point) 2-2|- cm. long, at first erect, then gradually incurved, the apex ending in a fine 

 point about 5 mm. long. Lower lip erect, cuneate ; lobes separated by a broad sinus 

 with a notch in the middle, produced into long fine points embracing the galea and much 

 exceeding it. Labellum slightly exceeding the column, reddish -brown, oblong-linear, 

 tip very obtuse and slightly recurved ; lamina about 9 mm. long, with a raised longitu- 

 dinal line down the centre ; appendage linear, curved, penicillate. Column erect, about 

 10 mm. long ; upper angle of wings produced into an acute tooth, lower lobe blunt oblong. 

 Stigma lanceolate, tumid. 



District of Victor Harbor ; Clinton ; Millicent ; Kangaroo Island ; also all the Eastern 

 States and Tasmania. April-May. 



12. P. parviflora [small-flowered), R. Br. A small, slender species, 5-15 cm. high. 

 Radical leaves not developed during the flowering stage or sometimes represented by a 

 small lateral tuft at base of scape ; no stem-leaves except several small acute bracts. 

 Flowers 1-5, very small, green, racemose. Galea much incurved ; apex rather blunt in 

 the living plant, not produced into a fine point ; about 8 mm. long. Lower lip cuneate, 

 erect ; lobes including a very wide sinus with a notch in the middle, shortly acuminate, 

 embracing the galea but always shorter than it. Labellum oblong or linear -oblong, 

 on a movable claw ; the tip slightly recurved, obtuse ; lamina about 2f mm. long, traversed 

 by a broad red raised central line with a narrow red line on either side of it ; basal 

 appendage linear, curved, 3 -partite. Column about 5 mm. long, erect, slightly longer 

 than the labellum ; upper angle of wings produced into an acute tooth, the lower lobe 

 oblong ciliate. Stigma relatively large and prominent, cordate. 



Myponga ; Mount Compass ; also in all the Eastern States, including Tasmania. 

 April-May. 



13. P. barbata [bearded, referring to the labellum), Lindl. Moderately robust, 12-30 

 cm. high. Leaves sessile, generally numerous, crowded at or near the base, lanceolate or 

 oblong-lanceolate, 1 1-5 cm. long, often extending half-way up the stem, sometimes fewer 

 and more distant, passing into acute sheathing bracts often imbricate. Flower green, 

 solitary. Galea erect, somewhat oblong, about 3 cm. from base to crest, ending in a 

 rather short subulate point, inflated in its lower half, the margins pinched laterally about 

 the middle. Lower lip linear, reflexed or recurved in mature flower, the lobes almost 

 parallel, linear, acute, about 3 cm. long. Labellum about 2 cm. long, on a narrow-oblong 

 irritable claw, filiform except at the extremities, narrowly channelled below ; base dilated 

 into an elongated somewhat boat-shaped process, glabrous and transversely corrugated 

 above, ciliate on the margins and produced posteriorly beyond the insertion of the claw ; 

 tip brown carunculate with 2 small oblong depressed wings ; filiform portion with long- 

 oblique yellow hairs. Column erect, about 2 cm. long ; rather broadly winged ; upper 

 border of wings rounded with a prominent straight narrow-linear process, lower lobes 

 blunt falcate -oblong ; anterior borders inturned and ciliate. Stigma considerably wider 

 than the column, bilobed, narrowly obovate, not viscid until after pollination. 



N.P. and other parts of Mount Lofty Range ; Beetaloo ; Goolwa ; Nangkita ; Milli 

 cent ; Yeelanna, Ungarra, and other parts of Eyre Peninsula ; Kangaroo Island ; 

 also all States except Queensland. Sept. -Oct. 



14. P. mutica (docked, referring to the blunt lateral sepals), R. Br. A small, slender, 

 glabrous species, usually 7-10 cm. high. Leaves 4 or 5, in a radical rosette, ovate to 

 elliptical, on very short petioles ; lamina 15-20 mm. long ; stem-bracts acute, empty, 

 sheathing, usually 2 in addition to those subtending the pedicels. Flowers green, 

 2-8, in a slightly spiral spike. Galea nearly 7 mm. long, incurved, broad, blunt ; lower 

 lip reflexed or spreading, shorter than galea, the lobes short, broad, hardly acute. Labellum 

 attached by a wide and moderately long claw (1 mm.) to the foot of column, quadrate, tip 

 broadly rounded and slightly emarginate ; lamina about 2 mm. long, traversed by a raised 

 central line ; appendage large (about 1^ mm. long), oblong, fleshy, the tip turned back- 

 wards. Column about 6 mm. long, reaching almost to top of galea : wings quite rounded, 

 anterior margin ciliate, almost semicircular, without any tooth, the lower lobe bluntly 

 triangular ciliate. Stigma narrow-elliptical. 



As far north as Mount Patawurta (Flinders Range) and west to Fowler's Bay ; south 

 to Mount Gambier; also all eastern States and Tasmania. July Sept. 



