NEW OR NOTEWORTHY ORCHIDS 
Capsula sessilis, lineari-lanceolala, basi et apice 
attenuata, capitellata, semipedalis vel parum 
longior. Semina nigra nitida aptera. 
A. V. angustifolia et V. planifolia, quibus afllnis 
videtur, foliis capsulisque differt. 
Odorem aromaticum specificum triginta sex post 
ellapsis annis, quod specimina collecta fuerunt, 
capsulae nondum perdiderunt.” 
A straggling, scandent herb with distant, very narrow, 
alternate leaves and slender stems. Leaves coriaceous, up to 
18.5 cm. long, 1.5-2 cm. wide near the base, about 2 mm. 
thick when fresh, linear-lanceolate, acute, apex sharply 
deflexed. Lateral sepals somewhat spreading, 5 cm. long, 
1.3 cm. wide, lightly concave, fleshy, narrowly lanceolate, 
subacute. Dorsal sepal 5.2 cm. long, 1.1 cm. wide, narrowly 
lanceolate. Petals 5 cm. long, 1 cm. wide, narrowly lanceo¬ 
late, obtuse, lightly carinate along the middle on the outer 
surface. Labellum 4.5 cm. long, 2.2 cm. wide above the 
middle, below the middle united with the column to form a 
tube; expanded portion 2.1 cm. long, flabellate, lightly tri- 
carinate along the middle nerves, the keels rounded and near 
the distal end giving rise to several retrorse papilliform emer¬ 
gences, coarsely fimbriate on the anterior margin, some of 
the divisions of the fringe shortly bifurcate. Disc orna¬ 
mented with a large crest beneath the column, the crest 
being multilamellate, with the lamellae truncate and mi¬ 
nutely fimbriate on the upper edge. Column densely glandu- 
lose on the anterior surface. 
Vanilla odorata Presl was described originally from 
fruiting material. It has remained among the doubtful 
species of the genus. R. A. Rolfe, in his monograph of Va¬ 
nilla, was unable to discover a single clue regarding the floral 
characters of Presl’s species, although by means of the 
foliage he was able to place it in his key, and to differentiate 
it by folia-characters from its probable allies. 
Klotzsch, in 1846, when he published his notes on Va¬ 
nilla, referred to V. odorata Presl as follows: “Vanilla odorata 
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