332 Ridley. — On the method of fertilization in 
search, for it spends hours licking this flower, and if driven away 
speedily returns, nor will it visit a flower which is beginning 
to wither. 
It is interesting to note that Dendrobium superhum is not 
a native of these regions, and so cannot strictly speaking 
be known to the native Dipteron, yet the insect, although 
evidently very particular in its tastes, is very quickly attrac- 
ted to it. Another point is worthy of note in connection 
with the Bulbophyllum . In most of the species of the genus 
the lip is darker coloured than the rest of the flower, or at 
least more conspicuously ornamented ; but here the con- 
spicuous colouring is transferred, so to say, to the sepals, 
which are the attractive portion, though there are traces 
of the red colouring of the lip still left upon the apex of the 
inconspicuous lip. I do not believe that there are very many 
Bidbophylla that are fertilized exactly in this way. Nearly 
all the species, including most at least of the Sestochilus 
section, have the ovary twisted, and the lateral sepals thus 
hang downwards instead of being turned up as they are in 
B. macranthum ; and the closely allied Cirrhopetala and 
Megaclinia have the same arrangement. 
The Cirrhopetala are very rarely fertilized even in their 
native haunts, although they flower well and constantly. 
Many of the smaller Bidbophylla , however, constantly fruit, 
and I recently found a small species in the act of being ferti- 
lized by a small red Dipteron. This, B. striatellum mihi, 
is a small creeping plant with very slender filiform scapes 
bearing solitary terminal flowers. The three sepals are all 
similar, lanceolate with a filiform apex, half an inch long, 
connivent, yellow with red stripes. The petals shorter, 
oblong-lanceolate, stiff with rounded apices, and similarly 
coloured. The lip is loosely articulated with the foot of 
the column, very small, dark red purple, tongue-shaped, 
curved and fleshy. It is quite invisible from the outside, 
from being shorter than the sepals, which conceal it. The 
column has the usual shape, but possesses two setiform erect 
stelidia. As I have seen only a single flower, I cannot 
