Plate 61. 



COEYCIUM cbispum. 



Cape Province, Little Namaqualand. 



Orchidacbae. Tribe Ophkydeae. 

 Corycium, Siv. ; Benth. et HooJc. f. Gen. Plant, vol. iii. p. 683. 



Corycium crispum, Sw. in Vet. Acad. Handl. Stockh., 1800, 222; Bolus, 

 Orchids of South Africa, vol. i. t. 45 ; Fl. Cap. vol. v. sect. 3, p. 286. 



This extremely pretty little orchid was sent to us by Mrs. 

 E. Eood from Van Rhynsdorp in August. Though the late 

 Dr. Bolus published a figure of this species in his " Orchids 

 of South Africa," we again reproduce a plate of the plant, and 

 it is the first member of the family Orchidaceae to appear in 

 this work. The species is fairly common in the Cape Province 

 extending from the Cape Peninsula up to Clanwilliam and 

 Van Rhynsdorp and into Little Namaqualand. It has been 

 known to botanical science for a considerable time, and was 

 first described under its present name over 100 years ago. 



The species belongs to the large group of terrestrial orchids 

 which are characteristic of the south-western region of the 

 Cape Province, the few epiphytic orchids which are found in 

 South Africa being mostly confined to the forest regions of 

 the Eastern Province and the Northern Transvaal. 



Specimens are preserved in the National Herbarium, 

 Pretoria (Herb. No. 1467). 



Description : — Plant up to 18 cm. high. Tuber 3 cm. long, 

 1*5 cm. in diameter, egg-shaped. Leaves cauline, somewhat 

 spreading and imbricate, 8-10 cm. long, 2'5 cm. broad, linear- 

 lanceolate to ovate, very acuminate, with undulate margins. 

 Inflorescence 9-10 cm. long, many-flowered. Bracts 2 cm. long, 

 1*7 cm. broad, ovate, shortly acuminate, as long as the ovary. 

 Flowers sessile. Dorsal sepal 8 mm. long, linear ; lateral sepals 

 connate into a bilobed limb, erect in young flowers, becoming 

 deflexed in older flowers. Side petals 8 mm. long, 6 mm. 

 broad above, deeply concave and saccate at the base ; lip 



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