135 



PHAIUS ALBUS. 



{White-flowered Phaius.) 

 LINNEAN SYSTEM. AT K NATURAL ORDER. 



No 125 



GYNANDKIA MONANDRIA. ORCHID ACE.3£ § EPIDENDREjE. 



GENERIC CHARACTER. 



Phaius. (Loureir.) Sepala et petala subsequalia, patentia, libera. Labellum ssepiiis 

 cucullatum, cum basi columnse adnatum, calcaratum, integrum vel trilobum, ssepius supra 

 carinatum lamellosum vel cristatum. Columna erecta, cum ovario continua, semiteres, marginata, 

 elongata. Anther a 8-locularis. Pottinia 8, subsequalia. — Herbce terrestres(Asiaticse), caulescentes, 

 vel acaules, foliis latis plicatis. Scapi radicales. Flores speciosi. 



Sepals and petals somewhat equal, spreading, free. Lip most frequently hooded, adnate 

 with the base of the column, spurred, entire or 3-lobed, more frequently keeled, lamellose or 

 crested above. Column erect, continuous with the ovarium, semiterete, bordered, elongated. 

 Anther 8-celled. Pollen-masses 8, somewhat equal. — Terrestrial (Asiatic) plants, caulescent or 

 stemless, with broad plicate leaves. Seapes radical. Flowers handsome. 



SPECIFIC CHARACTER. 



P. albus ; Caulescens, foliis oblongo-lanceolatis acutis subtus glaucis ; sepalis petalisque 

 oblongo-lanceolatis acutis subsequalibus ; labello oblongo cucullato denticulato apice rotundato ; 

 disco 5-cristato, calcare rectiusculo emarginato ; bracteis cucullatis herbaceis persistentibus 

 imbricatis floribus a?qualibus. — (Lindl.) 



Caulescent, leaves oblong-lanceolate, acute, glaucous beneath ; sepals and petals oblong- 

 lanceolate, acute, somewhat equal ; lip oblong, cucullate, denticulate, with a rounded apex ; 

 disc 5-crested, spur rather straight, emarginate; bracteas hooded, herbaceous, persistent, imbricated, 

 equal to the flowers. 



Phaius albus — Lindl., in Wallich Plant. As. Rar. vol. ii. t. 198. 



Descr. — Plant from one and a half to two feet high. Leaves sheathing at the base, the 

 upper ones largest. Raceme terminal, from 3 to 5 flowered, nodding. Flowers white, large, 

 and handsome, the lip convolute or hooded, with a yellow disc, the limb richly marked with 

 pink veins. Bracteas large, herbaceous^ concave, oblong-lanceolate, in length almost equal to 

 the flowers. 



This is a delicate and most elegant species of the genus Phaius, our drawing 

 of which was made from a plant in the rich collection of George Barker, Esq., of 

 Springfield, near Birmingham. It is a native of the East Indies, and appears to 

 have been originally found by Dr. Wallich upon Mount Chandaghiry, in Nepal : 



