I. ORCHIDE*. 
272 
[Spirani/tes. 
stipitate. Pollen-masses 2, narrow, pyriform, powdery, fixed to the 2-fid 
rostellum above the stigma. 
A considerable genus, found in various parts of the world. 
1. S. australis, Lindl . ; — S. novee-Zelandia, Hook. FI. N. Z. i. 242. 
A span high and upwards. Leaves 2 in. long, linear-lanceolate, acuminate, 
narrowed into long petioles. Scape covered with loosely sheathing bracts. 
Spike spiral, 1-2 in. long. Flowers L in. long, white ; bracts ovate, 
acuminate, as long as the flowers. Sepals and petals narrow, ovate-oblong, 
obtuse. Lip oblong, disk thickened ; margins crumpled and waved. Ovary 
glandular-pubescent. 
Northern Island, Co/enso. The lip is very variable in form, narrower in the New 
Zealand than Australian specimens. A very common Australian plant, also found in China, 
India, and Siberia, and perhaps not different from a European species. The lip of the 
New Zealand plant indeed quite agrees with that of the European S. aslivalis. 
17. PRASOPHYLLTTM, Br. 
Terrestrial, glabrous herbs ; roots of round tubers often coated with matted 
fibres. Stem with a membranous sheath below the leaf. Leaf solitary, radi- 
cal, linear, fistular, rarely short or 0. Flowers small, spiked, with the lip 
above. — Sepals oblong or ovate, lateral free or combined, recurved. Petals 
nearly as large as sepals, unequal-sided. Lip superior, clawed, ascending, 
undivided, often with an adnate plate on the disk. Column erect, small, 
with lateral appendages (staminodia). Anther at the back of the column, 
persistent, obtuse or with a long mucro. Pollen-masses 2, powdery, fixed 
to the rostellum above the stigma. 
A large Australian and Tasmanian genus, more rare in New Zealand. I have very in- 
sufficient specimens of all the species except P. Colensoi. 
Leaf sheathing the scape halfwav up. Perianth 5 in 1. P. Colensoi. 
Leaf sheathing the scape to the top ; blade very short or 0. 
Perianth pointing forwards 2. P. nudum. 
Perianth pointing downwards 3. P. pumilum. 
1. P. Colensoi, Book. /. FI. N. Z. i. 241. Stout, erect, 4-10 in. high. 
Leaf exceeding the spike, its sheath seldom rising more than halfway up the 
scape. Spike 1-3 in. long, many-flowered ; bract small, obtuse. Perianth 
horizontal, greenish yellow, y in. diam., sweet-scented. Sepals ovate-ob- 
long, acuminate, lateral free. Petals linear-oblong. Lip trowel-shaped, claw 
short, blade fleshy, subacute, thickened towards the tip. Column extremely 
short ; staminodia broadly notched. Ovary obovoid, tumid. — FI. Tasman, 
ii. 12. t. 112 A. 
Northern and Middle Islands : abuudant from Auckland southwards to Otago. I 
suspect that this is a variety of the sweet-scented Tasmanian P. alpinum, but the lip is 
shorter, more coriaceous, and thicker towards the tip. 
2. P. nudum, Hook. /.; — P. lunicatum, FI. N. Z. i. 242. Ycry 
slender, 8 in. high. Stem and leaf coated below with a fibrous lacerated 
sheath. Scape included throughout its length in the slender leaf-sheath. 
Blade of leaf very short, i in. long. Spikes f-1 in. long; bracts minute, 
obtuse. Perianth horizontal, yellowish, T ’y in. long. Lateral sepals free, ovate- 
lanceolate, acuminate. Petals much smaller, same shape. Lip ovale- 
