Leaves ovate to ovate-lanceolate (uppermost sometimes lanceolate;, acute, 
basally with a rather long, sheathing petiole, 4-8 cm. long, 1.5-3 cm. wide. 
Inflorescence hairy, densely or rather densely many-flowered, 3-6 cm. long 
but elongating in fruit. Flowers white, greenish white without. Bracts 
lanceolate, acuminate, sparsely pilose, up to 6.5 mm. long. Ovary densely 
glandular-pilose. Sepals rather variable, usually ovate-lanceolate, oblique, 
obtuse, sparsely pilose, 3.5 mm. long; lateral sepals 1 mm. wide; dorsal sepal 
somewhat wider. Petals oblanceolate, obtuse, about as long as sepals but 
narrower. Lip 3-lobed, oblong in outline, constricted above, 3.5 mm. long; 
terminal lobe clawed, transverse, broader than long, lunate, papillose, spur 
2 mm. long, much shorter than ovary. Capsule elongate ovoid, 6-angled, pilose, 
8 mm. long, 3 mm. in diameter. 
Flowers: December - April. 
Known throughout the West Indies. 
TRINIDAD: St. Anne's, April 30, 1848 (Herb. Trin. 409;; December 23, 1892, 
Alexander s.n. (Herb. Trin. 5075); Tucuche, February 27, 1893, 
Broadway s.n. (Herb. Trin. 5248 ). 
2. ^rythrpdes plantaginea (L.) Fawcett at Randle FI. Jam. 1 (1910; 28, t.3, fig. 15. 
Satvrium plantagineum Linnaeus Syst. 10, ed. 2 (1759; 1244. 
Physurus plantagineus (L.; Lindley Gan. and Sp. Orch. PI. (1840; 503. 
Orchis plantaginea Swartz in Act. Holm. (1800; 207. 
Pelexia bursaria Lindley in Ann. Nat. Hist. 4 (1840; 116. 
Physurus elatior Reichenbach f. in Bonpland. 3 (1855; 214. 
Plants erect, up to 60 cm. tall. Rhizome decumbent, succulent, sometimes 
up to 180 cm. long, glabrous and densely 3-6-leaved below, slender, hairy and 
bearing scales above. Leaves ovate-elliptic or ovate-lanceolate, acute, basally 
with a sheathing petiole, 6-15 cm. long, 2.5-5.5 cm. wide (uppermost usually 
much smaller;. Inflorescence hairy, rather densely many-flowered, up to 15 cm. 
long. Flowers white, sometimes greenish without. Bracts ovate-lanceolate, 
acuminate, somewhat pilose, lowermost up to 1 cm. long, uppermost smaller. 
Ovary very pilose. Sepals oblong-lanceolate, oblique, obtuse, slightly pilose, 
6-7 mm, long, 1.5-1.8 mm. wide. Petals narrowly oblanceolate, obtuse, slightly 
shorter than sepals. Lip obscurely 3-lobed, ovate-oblong in outline, strongly 
constricted above, 5.5-6 mm. long, 2 mm. wide; terminal lobe ovate-triangular, 
trilobulate, apically revolute-acuminate, sometimes Granulate; spur 3.5-5 mm. 
long, more than half as long as ovary. Capsule ellipsoidal, 6-angled, 8 mm. long, 
about 3 mm. in diameter. 
