168 M A L 
died afMarfeilles in 17x9, at the advanced age of ninety- 
two. He was the author of, 2. Spiritual Poetry, 1671, 
8vo. 3. Lives of Saints. 4. The Life of St. Philip Be- 
nizzi, General of the Servites. 5. A Difcourfe againft 
the popular Superftition of lucky and unlucky Days, 
printed in the French Mercure for June 1688 5 and feve- 
Tal devotional pieces. Mcreri. 
MALAUCE'NE, a town of France, in the department 
of the Vauclule: eighteen miles north-eaft of Avignon, 
and fourteen eatt of Orange. 
MALAVER'D, a town of Perfia, in the province of 
Irak : forty-five miles north-eaft of Ifpahan. 
MALAVIS'TA, a town of the iHand of Cuba : thirty- 
fix miles weft of Villa del Principe. 
To MALAX'ATE, v.a. Gr.] To foften, or 
knead to foftnefs, any body. 
MALAXA'TION,/. The aft of foftening. 
MALAX'IS,/. [a name applied by Swartz to this ge¬ 
nus, eftablifhed by Dr. Solander and himfelf. The 
word exprefTes foftnefs, and fcems to allude to 
the delicacy of habit and ftrudure which marks thefe 
plants.] In botany, a genus of the clafs gynandria, order 
monandria, natural order orchidete. The generic charac¬ 
ters are—Calyx: perianth reverfed, three-leaved, more or 
lets acute, fpreading, permanent, two upper leaves equal; 
lower folitary, in front, deflexed. Corolla: permanent; 
petals two, linear, deflexed, fpreading, fmaller than the 
calyx. Neftary an afcending or eredt lip, between the 
two upper calyx-leaves, embracing the organs of frudti- 
fication with its concave bafe ; its termination obtufe or 
acute, undivided or (lightly lobed. Stamina: anther an 
bemifpherical, deciduous, obliquely-terminal, lid, of two 
cells; maffes of pollen folitary, fefiile, oblong or globular, 
lying on the anterior margin of the top of the ftyle. Pif- 
tillurn : germen inferior, either oblong, fomewhat cylin¬ 
drical, or obovate, ered, flightly gibbous, excavated in 
front and at the fummit; ftyle ered or afcending, (hort 
and thick ; ftigma on the fide towards the lip, beneath 
the anther, concave. Pericarpium: capfule oblong or 
obovate, with three or fix ribs, of one cell and three 
valves, opening by clefts between the ribs. Seeds: nu¬ 
merous, minute, each clothed with a chaffy tunic.— EJfcn- 
tial CharaB.tr. Calyx reverfed, fpreading; petals deflexed ; 
lip afcending, concave at the bafe, without afpur; anther 
a terminal lid, deciduous. 
1. Malaxis fpicata : leaves two, ovate, fhorter than their 
footftalks; flower-ftalk fquare, racemofe; lip obfcurely 
three-lobed, pointed. The root is perennial, confiding of 
an oblong upright caudex, with numerous downy fibres, 
appearing to grow amongft rotten wood or leaves. Leaves 
two, radical, fpreading, thin, delicate and pale, ovate, ra¬ 
ther acute, entire, fomewhat wavy, ribbed, fmooth, about 
two inches long, each fupported by a membranous, rib¬ 
bed, tubular, (heathing footftalk, about three inches long. 
Flower-ftalk about a foot high, folitary, radical, quadran- - 
gular, fmooth, (heathed by the footftalks at the bottom, 
and terminating in a corymbofe clufterof numerous fmall 
pale yellowilh flowers, each of u hofe partial (talks is half 
an inch, or more, in length, and has at its bafe a linear, 
acute, membranous, permanent bradte. The lip is acute, 
with a fmall lobe at each fide, near the bafe, and has a dark 
central ftripe. This feems to be the lpecies which firft 
caufed the eftablifhment of the genus ; yet it does not well 
anfwer to the generic charadter in Swartz’s Prodromns, 
unlefs we conceive the central point of the lip to be bent 
backwards, while the twb lateral lobes, projedling forward, 
have a heart-lhaped figure. The fpecific name is liable to 
objeftion 5 for the flowers are racemofe, or corymbofe, thofe 
of fome other fpecies being much more truly fpiked. Na¬ 
tive of Jamaica. 
2. Malaxis umbelluiata : leaves two, ovate, fliorter than 
their footftalks ; flower-balks five-angled ; umbel denfie ; 
lip obfcurely three-lobed, pointed. Native of Jamaica, 
apparently in fimilar fituations with the foregoing, from 
which it differs chiefly in being of rather more humble 
M A L 
ftature, with fmaller and greener flowers, growing in a lit¬ 
tle denfe umbel, at the top of the pentagonal ftalk. 
3. Malaxis latifolia : leaves feveral, ovate, longer than 
their footftalks; (pike cylindrical; bradles deflexed; lip 
three-lobed, the middle lobe largeft. Native of the woods 
of Upper Nepal; gathered by Dr. F. Buchanan, Auguft 
i2th, 1802, at Narainhetty, where it is called by the in¬ 
habitants namly. The root is like that of the former, with 
many ftrong downy twifted fibres. Leaves about four, on 
fhortifh, broad, ribbed, (heathing, footftalks, broad-ovate, 
pointed, plaited, ribbed and ftriated, three or four inches 
long, being more than twice the length of their ftalks. 
Flower-ftalk central, folitary, above a foot high, eredl, with 
feveral acute angles. Spike terminal, ereCt, cylindrical, 
denfe, many-flowered, three inches long. Bradles foli¬ 
tary, deflexed, awl-fliaped, concave, membraneous, per¬ 
manent. Flowers fefiile, fmall, yellow. 
4. Malaxis odorata: leaves feveral, elliptic-lanceolate; 
fpike cylindrical ; brakes deflexed. Lip heart-lhaped, 
cloven at the point. Gathered by Dr. Buchanan on the 
moffy rocks of Upper Nepal, where it is called bun pinali, 
Rheede fays it loves funny retired places, flowering in Ja. 
nuary and February, and having a delightful finell. It has 
altogether the habit of the laft, but the leaves are narrower, 
and more elliptical than ovate. The fpike is longer, and 
flowers larger. The lip differs effentially, being of a broad 
lieart-fliaped figure, cloven half way down at the upper 
part, or point, which is obtufe, and embracing the organs 
of fructification between the bafesofits rounded fide-iobes. 
The flowers are altogether of a pale dull yellow, or buff- 
colour. 
5. Malaxis lancifolia : leaves feveral, ovato-lanceolate, 
ribbed, acute; flowers fpiked; bradles lanceolate, fpread¬ 
ing; lip obovate, abrupt, reflexed, convex. Found by 
Dr. Buchanan in the woods at Suembu in Upper Nepal, 
July 17, 1802. It is from twelve to eighteen inches high. 
Stalk angular, bearing a long (lender fpike of numerous 
green unfpotted flowers, rather fmaller than Thunberg 
delineates thofe of his Ophrys nervofa. The bractes are 
lanceolate, and nearly as long as the germens. The lip 
has no tubercles at its bafe, but is bent back towards the 
middle. 
6. Malaxis ophyiogloffoides: leaf folitary, ovate, clafp- 
ing the ftem ; ftalk with many angles; lip cloven at the 
extremity. Native of (hady woods in North America. 
Sent from near Lancafter in Pennfylvania by the Rev. Dr. 
Muhlenberg. A delicate fpecies, with much of the afpedl 
of the two firft, but di(iingui(hed from all hitherto difco- 
vered by its folitary leaf, which is ovate inclining to heart- 
(haped, acute, finely ribbed and reticulated, near an inch 
and a half long, clafping the ftalk witli its bafe, and (heath¬ 
ing two inches or more of the lower part with its clofe, 
tubular, radical, footftalk. The flower-ftalk is folitary, 
riling four or five inches above the leaf, pale, (lender, with 
feveral unequal angles, (not exadlly five,) and terminat¬ 
ing in a very delicate corymbofe duller of numerous fmall 
greenifli flowers, on capillary ftalks, with a fmall ovate 
acute membranous bradte at the bafe of each ftalk. 
7. Malaxis cordifolia : leaf nearly folitary, heart-(liaped, 
Stalk furrowed. Petals linear-thread-fhaped. Lip promi¬ 
nent, inverfely heart-fliaped, with a fmall-point. Germen 
acutely triangular. Gathered b’ Dr. Buchanan, Oct. 2d, 
1802, at Narainhetty, in Upper Nepal : it grows in watery 
places, amongft dead leaves, in a micaceous foil. 
8. Malaxis nfiformis: leaves feveral, fword-(liaped, equi- 
tant, riblefs ; fpike very long, dependent; lip heart-(haped, 
four-lobed, This grows parafitically upon trees at Na¬ 
rainhetty in Upper Nepal, where it was gathered Dr. Bu¬ 
chanan, November 13, 1802. It is a genuine Malaxis, 
though different in habit from the uiual alpect of the ge¬ 
nus. The root confifts of long (trong woolly fibre.-., with 
lcarcely any bulb. Leaves numerous, radical, two-ranked, 
equitant ; fefiile, a foot long, lword (liaped, very acute, 
coriaceous, quite fmooth, without ribs, of a fine firming 
grafs-green, leparating, by age or drying, at a kind of joint 
near 
