CENTRAL AMERICAN ORCHIDS 
branacea. Sepalum dorsale late deltoideo-ovatum, usque ad 
apicem attenuatum, acutum, trinervium. Petala bilobata, 
lobo superiore elliptico obtuso, lobo anteriore triangulari- 
falcato subacuto incurvo. Labellum trilobatum, incrassa- 
tum; lobis lateralibus late unguiculatis, anguste ellipticis, 
utrinque obtusis; lobo medio abbreviato triangulo-apiculato, 
margine glanduloso. Discus glaber. Columna usque ad apicem 
dilatata, apice bilobata. Pollinia duo, anguste pyriformia. 
Epiphytic herb with slender fibrous roots. Secondary 
stems 3-5 cm. long, slender, concealed by about ten elon¬ 
gated closely oppressed cylindrical sheaths which are in¬ 
conspicuously muriculate, monophyllous. Sheaths about 
5 mm. long, dilated at the tip into a lanceolate marginate 
lamina which is minutely muriculate. Leaf up to 4.5 cm. 
long, 4.5 mm. wide below the middle, narrowly lanceolate, 
acuminate, tridentate at the tip, the middle tooth exceeding 
1 mm. in length, the lateral ones a little shorter, purplish 
suffused with green in dried specimens. Peduncles fascicu¬ 
late, shorter than the leaf, with the raceme about 11 mm. 
long, slender. Raceme flexuose, about 5 mm. long. Pedicels 
persistent, distichous. Flowers opening in succession. 
Lateral sepals 3.5 mm. long, united to about the middle to 
form a broadly ovate bilobed lamina which is 4 mm. wide 
where it joins the dorsal sepal, outer margins glandular- 
ciliate, inner margins glabrous; free portion of each sepal 
triangular, acute, 1.5 mm. wide at the point of union, 1 mm. 
long, the tips incurved, convergent. Dorsal sepal 3.5 mm. 
long, 4 mm. wide, deltoid-ovate, acuminate, subacute, 
3-nerved, like the lateral sepals hyaline and membranaceous. 
Petals 2.5 mm. wide, hardly 1 mm. long from the point of in¬ 
sertion to the tip, transversely bilobed, with the posterior 
lobe of one petal overlapping the posterior lobe of the other 
behind the column; anterior lobe much narrower than the 
posterior one, triangular-falcate, subobtuse, the tip in¬ 
curved. Labellum 3-lobed; lateral lobes unguiculate, el¬ 
liptical, about 1 mm. long; middle lobe triangular-apiculate, 
porrect, equaling the lateral lobes, glandular. Column about 
1 mm. long, dilated upward, bilobed posteriorly at the sum¬ 
mit. Pollinia two, narrowly pyriform. 
33 
