CENTRAL AMERICAN ORCHIDS 
truncate in front, with an erect inconspicuous apicule near 
the apex. Disc shallowly excavated with a raised keel 
through the middle. Column about 1 mm. long, dilated 
upward. 
In habit similar to Stelis Lankesteri Ames, from which it 
differs in the number of nerves in the sepals, in the regular 
not bilabiate flowers, and in the petals and labellum. The 
flowers are larger than in Stelis leucopogon Reichb. f. and S. 
Tonduziana Schltr. 
Costa Rica, Cascajal, C. H. Lankester 93. 5500 feet 
altitude. (Type in Herb. Kew.) 
Stelis inaequalis Ames sp. nov. Herba parvula, 
epiphytica. Caules secundarii dense caespitosi, erecti vel 
ascendentes, valde abbreviati, monophylli. Folium oblan- 
ceolatum, apice rotundatum, usque ad basim angustatum. 
Pedunculus quam folium multo longior, paucibracteatus, 
bracteis vaginantibus. Racemus plus minusve decemflorus. 
Flores in sicco atrobrunnei, bilabiati. Sepala lateralia ab- 
breviata, usque ad apicem plus minusve cohaerentia, 
laminam transverse ellipticam formantia, supra medium 
valde deflexa. Sepalum dorsale valde dissimile, oblongum, 
obtusum, trinervium. Petala flabellata, leviter incrassata. 
Labellum apice carnosum, subquadratum, trinervium, antice 
excavatum, truncatum, utrinque prope apicem minute 
lobulatum. Columna apice trilobata. 
Secondary stems densely caespitose, up to 3 mm. long, 
concealed by an ample hyaline sheathing bract. Leaf 
about 2 cm. long, up to 5 mm. wide, oblanceolate, distinctly 
marginate, obscurely if at all bilobulate or bidentate at the 
obtuse tip, narrowed toward the base, coriaceous. Peduncle 
erect, with the raceme up to 5 cm. long, very slender, pauci- 
bracteate. Raceme 1.5 cm. long, about 5 mm. in diameter, 
ten or more flowered. Flowers dark brown, about 1 mm. 
apart. Bracts at the base of the pedicels infundibuliform, 
embracing the rachis, hyaline when dry. Pedicels hardly 
1 mm. long. Lateral sepals 1 mm. long, coherent nearly 
to the apex, forming a transversely elliptical lamina which 
is 2 mm. wide, sharply deflexed at about the middle. Dorsal 
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