168 



RUMPHIUS'S HERBARIUM AMBOINENSE 



lected in Amboina by Boerlage and known from Halmaheira, 

 New Guinea, Bismarck Archipelago, and the Solomon Islands. 

 Rumphius's description and figure unmistakably refer to Comin- 

 sia gigantea K. Sch. Burman f . erred in referring fig. 2, of plate 

 62 to Folium buccinatum asperum Rumph. in the explanation of 

 the plate; it is Folium buccinatum ~Rumi)h.=Heliconia bihai 

 Linn., as the description shows. Horaninow thought it might 

 be a Phrynium, and Teysmann, quoted by Hasskarl, thought that 

 it might be a Hellenia (=Alpinia) ; see Heliconia bihai Linn., 

 page 150. 



COMINSIA RUBRA Val. sp. nor. 



Folium mensarium rubrum s. latifolium Rumph. Herb. Amb. 5: 141. 



Herba multicaulis, caulibus complanatis e vaginis 4 com- 

 positis. Folia magna late elliptica (Heliconia Bihai referentia), 

 antice rotundata acumine convoluto, valde inaequilatera, 600 ad 

 900 mm longa 180 ad 250 mm lata consistentia firma, haud ad 

 latera findentia, supra in vivo glauco-viridia subtus pallide fusca 

 vel violacea. Nervi laterales circ. 12 ad 15 mm inter se remoti. 

 Petioli ad 750 mm longi basi cum ligula pubescentes. Herba 

 florens ad 2.5 metr. alta, 15 mm crassa, pilis bulbillosis densis 

 scabra, foliis 2, 1,200 mm longis 400 mm latis. Panicula magna 

 terminalis ad 400 mm longa ramosissima rachi laxe pubescente, 

 valde densiflora, internodiis denudatis, inferioribus ad 45 mm, 

 superioribus ±10 mm longis. Bracteae vaginantes 35 ad 45 

 mm longae glabrae. Flores ignoti. 



The description is from specimens in the Buitenzorg herb- 

 arium, collected in Amboina by Botter, and bearing the native 

 name kokin merah, which is also cited by Rumphius. It is 

 certainly a species of Cominsia, well characterized by the scabrid 

 sheaths. It is distinguished by the much denser, pubescent 

 inflorescence and by the wider leaves, which are purple beneath. 



ORCHIDACEAE * 

 (By J. J. Smith) 

 PLATANTHERA L. C. Richard 

 PLATANTHERA SUSAN NAE (Linn.) Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orch. (1835) 295. 

 Orchis susannae Linn. Sp. PI. (1753) 939. 



* All specimens of Orchidaceae collected by Doctor Robinson in Amboina 

 were sent me at Leiden. Owing to the abnormal conditions brought about by 

 the European war, I considered it inadvisable to take the specimens with 

 me on my return to Buitenzorg, so that it has been impracticable to cite 

 the numbers collected by Doctor Robinson in this consideration of the Orchid- 

 aceae described by Rumphius. [J. J. S.]. For citations of Robinson's 

 specimens of Orchidaceae, see Addenda, p. 548. [E. D. M.] 



