140 
SOUTH AFRICAN ORCHIDS 
oblanceolata, acuta, ad 5 cm. longa, 1-1 cm. lata, caulina 3, bracteiformia, 
ca. 1 cm. longa; racemus sat dense 12 — 18-fL, floribus subsecundis; 
bracteae e basi late ovato longe acuminatae, herbaceae, pedicellis parum 
longiores, 7—4 mm. longae; sepala ovata acuta, lateralia subobliqua, 4 — 5 
mm. longa; petala ovata acuminata, 4-5 mm. longa; labellum inferum, 
inferne subcuneatum, e medio superne conspicue dilatatum, 3-lobum, 
lobis lateralibus fere semi-orbicularibus, intermedio fere duplo breviore, 
multo minore, cum calcare gracili, 2 mm. longo, 1 cm. longum; columna, 
anteriore visa, circuital late obovata, 1-75 mm. longa; rostellum 3-lobum, 
lobis lateralibus 2-appendiculatis, appendicibus complanatis obtusissimis 
erectis, anterioribus apicem versus recurvatis parumque posterioribus 
brevioribus angustioribusque, lobo intermedio retroverso subulato ; anthera 
fere horizontalis ; pollinium obovato-oblongum, glandula suborbiculari. 
Cape Province: South-Eastern Region; Griqualand East, Lusikisiki, 
G. Fraser! (National Botanic Gardens, No. 4^ 4 -); without exact locality 
A. G. McLoughlin ! 
A slender erect glabrous herb, 12 — 18 cm. high; tubers several cylin- 
drical, up to 8 mm. in diam. ; radical leaves 6 — 10, almost erect, often 
recurved near the apex, linear or usually linear-oblanceolate, acute, up 
to 5 cm. long, 1-1 cm. broad, cauline 3, bract-like, about 1 cm. long; 
raceme rather densely 12 — 18-fL, flowers turning rather to one side of 
the axis; bracts from a broadly ovate base long-acuminate, herbaceous, 
a little longer than the pedicels, 7 — 4 mm. long; sepals ovate acute, the 
lateral somewhat oblique, 4 — 5 mm. long; petals ovate acuminate, 
4-5 mm. long; lip inferior, somewhat cuneate in the lower half, con- 
siderably widened upwards from the middle, 3-lobed, the lateral lobes 
almost semi-circular, the intermediate one a little more than half as long 
and much smaller, together with the slender, 2 mm. long, spur the whole 
lip about 1 cm. long; column, viewed from the front, broadly obovate in 
outline, 1-75 mm. long; rostellum 3-lobed, the lateral lobes each with 
2 erect, flattened, very obtuse processes, the anterior pair recurved 
towards the apex and a little shorter and narrower than the posterior 
pair, the intermediate lobe bent backwards subulate; anther almost 
horizontal; pollinium obovate-oblong, the gland almost circular. 
The drawing was made from one of several living plants, sent to 
Kirstenbosch by Mr G. Fraser, which flowered there in Dec. 1923. An 
earlier collection, also from Griqualand East, is that of Mr A. G. McLoughlin. 
Of this a single specimen is recorded as having flowered at Kirstenbosch 
in Dec. 1917. This was rather smaller than the plants in Mr Fraser’s 
collection and much paler in the colour of the flowers. The species is 
readily distinguished from C. compacta, Rolfe, by the several radical 
leaves, and the shape of the lip. 
