Ayr os tophyllum.'] 
ORCHiDEiE. (S. Moore.) 
363 
base. Petals generally narrower and longer than the sepals. Labellum 
adnate to the lower part of the column, constricted in the middle, its 
limb short, truncate, the base developed into a saccate pouch. Column 
erect, clavate. Anther 2-celled ; pollen-masses 8, pyriform; gland 
oval ; rostellum elongate. — Leafy caulescent nonbulbous epiphytes, 
with grass-like, broadly, sheathing, distichous leaves. Flowers incon- 
spicuous, in a terminal sessile capitulum. Distrib. A small genus, 
found in India, the Malayan Peninsula and Archipelago and the Pacific 
Islands ; the following species, its western outlier, can be but partially 
described, owing to tbe absence of specimens in flower. 
1. A. sp. nov ? Stems more than 1 foot high, leafy from the base. 
Limb of leaf linear- oblong, obliquely emarginate, mucronulate, 2-4 in. 
long ; sheaths tough, smooth, membranous at the margin. Capitulum 
subglobose, 1 in. diam. Capsule narrowly obovoid, \ in. long. 
Seychelles. Mahe, Barkly ! Horne! Also Madagascar. The Seychelles 
specimens hear ripe fruits, those from Madagascar very young buds. 
23. CALANTHE, E. Br. 
Sepals and petals spreading, the latter usually the smaller and occa- 
sionally filiform. Labellum adnate to the column, entire or lobed, 
appendaged on the inner face and usually giving off below a long, 
slender, curving spur. Column erect, clavate, generally latterly 
compressed ; pollen-masses 8, in two pairs ; caudicles usually 2, 
short (often absent or single) ; gland oblong or ovoid ; rostellum of two 
broad lobes, each shelving towards the stigmatic mass on its own side. 
— Terrestrial herbs with large membranous leaves, and long racemes of 
conspicuous flowers. Distrib. A genus of several species, natives for 
the most part of India and its Archipelago ; one species is found in 
Australia, four or five occur in Polynesia, and about the same number 
in Tropical America. 
1. C. sylvatica, Lindl. Gen. and Sp. Orch. 250. Leaves broadly ovate- 
lanceolate, when full-grown 1-1J foot long, 2-3 in. broad, imbricate on 
a short stem clothed below the leaves with a few scarious sheathing 
scales. Eacemes as long as the leaves ; bracts lanceolate, about \ in. 
long ; pedicel and ovary nearly 1 \ in. in length ; flowers more than \ 
in. diam., white (or the lip purple), at length orange. Sepals ovate- 
oblong, \ in. long. Petals a little shorter and narrower. Labellum 
about the same length as the sepals, obovate, tubercled at base, 4- 
lobed ; lobes ovate- oblong, obtuse, crenulate, the proximal pair much 
the smaller ; spur f in. long, arching forwards. Pollen-masses pyri- 
form. Rchh. f. in Walp. Ann. vi. 914. C. versicolor, Lindl. Seri. 
Orchid, t. 42. Centrosis sylvatica, Thouars , Orch. Afr. it. 35 and 36. 
Centrosia Auberti, Rich. Orch. Maur. 45, t. 7,/. 3. Bletia sylvatica, 
Bojer, Hort. Maur. 318. 
Mauritius, forests on the Pouce and other woody places, Bojer ! Gardner! etc. 
Seychelles? Horne! No. 601 (specimen in fruit). Also Bourbon and East 
Indies. 
