PL. CCC. 
RHYNCHOSTYLIS COELESTIS rchb. f. 
THE CELESTIAL RHYNCHOSTYLIS. 
RHYNCHOSTYLIS. Sepala subaequilonga, inter se libéra, patentia, lateralia postico latiora, pedi columnae 
affixa. Labellum ad apicem pedis columnae affixum, basi profonde saccatum ; lobi latérales obsoleti, médius supra 
saccum longe angustatum, apice inflexum, linguiforme v. obovatum. Columna brevis, crassa, semiteres, exalata, basi 
in pedem producta; clinandrium brevissimum, integrum ; rostellum crassiusculum, antice supra stigma prominens. 
Anthera terminalis, opercularis, incumbens, semiglobosa, imperfecte bilocularis; pollinia 2, cerea, subglobosa, sulcata 
v. fere bipartita, inappendiculata, anthera déhiscente stipiti longo filiformi affixa, glandula parva, submembranacea. 
Capsula oblonga v. subclavata, erostris, erecta v. patens, costis acute prominulis, interdum subalatis. 
Herbae epiphyticae, caulibus foliatis non pseudobulbosis. Folia disticha, coriacea v. carnosa, plana, vaginis 
perdistentibus caulem obtegentibus. Racemi latérales, longi, densiflori, floribus majusculis v. mediocribus breviter 
pedicellatis. Bracteae parvae. 
Species 2, Indiae orientalis et Archipelagi Malayani incolae. 
Rhynchostylis Blume Bijdr. Fl. Ned. Ind. (1825), P. 285, t. 49. — Benth et Hook. f. Gen, Plant , III, p. 574. 
Rhynchostylis coelestis. Planta nana, erecta. Folia disticha, recurva, imbricata, linearia, apice inaequaliter bi-vel 
tridentata, coriacea, canaliculata. Racemus erectus, densiflorus. Sepala elliptico-oblonga, subobtusa. Petala paullo 
latiora. Labellum obovato-oblongum, auriculis sub columna angulatis minutissimis, lamina cum columna ascendenti 
subparallela unguiculata antice obtusa vel subemarginata, calcari compresso obtuso curvulo, aristis geminis, inclusis 
ab apice inferiore antrorsis. Columna brevissima rostrata. 
Rhynchostylis coelestis Rchb. f. in Gard. Chron., 1885, pars 1, p. 692, in nota. — Veitch, Man. Orch. PI ., 
pars VII, p. 53. 
Saccolabhm coeleste Rchb. f. in Gard. Chron., 1885, pars 1, p. 692. — Warn. & Will. Orchid Album, 
VIII, t. 361. 
he présent charming little plant was originally described by Prof. Rei- 
chenbach, in 1883, in the pages of the Gardeners’ Chronicle , in the following 
terms : — “ One of the finest surprises I ever enjoyed. Take a short 
inflorescence of a white flowered Saccolabium guttatum (3 to 4 inches long), and 
imagine the dilated rhombic anterior part of the lip to be of the finest Italian 
sky-blue, as also to the tips of the sepals and petals, a blue tint on both sides of 
the centre of the recurved spur, and then add brown anthers with a flush of 
mauve, and you will be able to form an idea of the lovely thing. It has also 
a botanic merit of its own. Inside the compressed, blunt, slightly recurved spur 
rise from the apex of the under-side two falcate subulate bodies against the 
mouth of the spur. I received this from Sir Trevor Lawrence, who kindly 
forwarded two fine inflorescences, informing me that the habit of the plant is 
that of Saccolabium curvifolium , Lindl. It is, to my taste at least, a lovely and 
most désirable thing. ” 
For several years nothing further appears to hâve been published respecting 
it, but about the beginning of 188g a plate appeared in the Orchid Album , whence 
