NEW OR NOTEWORTHY ORCHIDS 
Brachionidium Valerioi is allied to the West Indian B. 
Sherringii Rolfe, but differs in having very short peduncles 
and markedly ciliate-dentate lip. B. tuberculatum Lindl. 
from Colombia is apparently a related species, but is in¬ 
adequately described. 
The description was prepared from dried specimens and 
from flowers preserved in alcohol. 
Costa Rica, Province of Heredia, Cerros de Zurqui, 
Northeast of San Isidro, Paul C. Standley & Juvenal Valerio 
50759, March 8, 1926. 2000-2400 meters altitude (Type 
in Herb. Ames No. 33206): Province of Heredia, Cerro de 
las Caricias, North of San Isidro, Standley & Valerio 52366, 
March 11, 1926. 2000-2400 meters altitude; Standley & 
Valerio 52419. 
Epidendrum Alfaroi A. Sc S. sp. nov. Herba me- 
diocris. Caules inferne laxe ramosi, vaginis tubulatis fere 
omnino obtecti. Folia saepissime duo, elliptico-oblonga, 
valde obtusa. Racemi terminales, erecti, laxe pluriflori. 
Flores carnosi. Sepala lateralia oblique subelliptica, acuta. 
Sepalum dorsale obovato-ellipticum. Petala spathulato- 
cuneata. Labellum trilobatum, lobis lateralibus laceris, 
lobo intermedio multo minore integro. 
Plant 16 to more than 25 cm. high (in the type specimen 
the stem is broken off below). Roots fibrous, flexuous, gla¬ 
brous, in tufts at the lower nodes of the stem. Stems 
loosely branching below, almost wholly concealed by ancip- 
itous tubular sheaths which waste into fibers in anthesis (so 
that the lower portions of the stems are naked), somewhat 
flexuous. Leaves 1-3 (usually 2), at and near the apex of the 
stem, elliptic-oblong, 4.4-6.8 cm. long, 8-18 mm. wide, the 
Uppermost leaf sometimes much smaller, abruptly rounded 
at the apex which is minutely bilobed and apiculate, slightly 
narrowed to the sessile base, coriaceous, strongly ascending, 
the mid-nerve sharply carinate beneath. Peduncle up to 
the raceme 2.7-3.7 cm. long, ancipitous, bialate, with 1 or 
2 short infundibuliform sheaths. Inflorescence racemose, 
loosely 6- to 9-flowered. Rachis gently fractiflex, 4.5-6.5 
55 
