H a b . Dense humid forests, probably not uncommon, as at Circular Head, Table Cape, Georgetown,
etc., Lawrence, Gunn, Archer.— (FI. Nov., Dec.)
D i s t r ib . New South Wales.
P la te CXXVI. Pig. 1 and 2, ovary, column, and labcDum; 3, front view of column; 4 and 5, pollen; 6,
grain of ditto ; 7, seed ; 8, nucleus of ditto in water :—all magnified.
Tribe IV. Vandeæ.
Gen. X V III. DIPODIUM, Br.
Perianthium subregulare, patens. Sepala et petala subæqualia. Lahellum unguiculatum; ungue
magno, eanaliculato, excavato ; marginibus callosis, e columnæ basi productis ; lamina cum ungue articúlala,
oblonga, integra ; disco apicem versus barbato v. glanduloso. Columna semiteres, ungue labelli æquilonga.
Anthera terminalis, decidua. Pollinia 2, globosa, cereacea, biloba, caudiculis distinctis glandulæ stigmatis
affixa.—Herbæ glabra, terrestres, aphylla; radice e fibris crassis camosis articulatis; scapo robusto, vaginato
J racemo multiflora ; floribus sublonge pedicellatis, patentibus, roseis.
This remarkable genus is, so far as is at present known, confined to Australia and New Caledonia ; it is one
of the few terrestrial Vandea of the southern hemisphere. D. punctatum is a stout, erect, leafless, glabrous herb,
1-2 feet high.—Roots of many spreading, stout, aiticulate, terete fibres. Scape strict, erect, with a few appressed,
short, sheathing, acuminate scales, which are more numerous and imbricating at the base of the scape.
Raceme erect, 3-6 inches long. Flowers deep pink or purplish, on long, slender, spreading pedicels, inch long.
Perianth spreading. Sepals and petals nearly equal, linear-oblong, obtuse, with recurved margins, rose-coloured,
spotted with darker colour. Labellum about as long as the petals, of two parts, a broad, subconcave, thick, margined
claw, with which the rather longer, oblong, thick, straight lamina is jointed ; lamina glandular in the middle. Column
straight, semiterete, as long as the claw of the lahellum, terminated by a small, convex, deciduous, two-
celled anther, below which is a small stigma. Pollen-masses two, globose, two-lobed, waxy, attached to the stig-
matic gland by short caudicles. (Name from Sis, hco, and wous, afoot ; in allusion to the caudicled pollen.)
1. Dipodium punctatum (Br. Prodr. 331) ; squamis radicalibus late ovatis acutis ecarinatis, supe-
rioribus ad basin fissis, bracteis lanceolatis, labello recto disco glanduloso.— Dendrobium punctatum. Smith,
Exot. Bot. i. 21. t. 1 2 ; Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orchid. 1 8 6 ; Bot. Beg. xxiii. t. 1980. {Gunn, 127.) (T a b .
CXXVII.)
H a b . Forests : Circular Head, Gunn ; Port Sorrell and Cheshunt, in stony and moist places, generally
growing near Eucalypti, Archer.— (FI. March?)
D is t r ib . New South Wales and Victoria.
P l a t e CXXVII. Fig. 1 and 2, labellum; 3 and 4, column;—all magnified.
Peric
Gen. XIX. GUNNIA, Lindl.
riugens. Sepala lanceolato-oblonga ; dorsale erectum ; lateralia subfalcata, ungui elongato
labelli adnata. Petala lanceolata, ascendentia. Labellum longe unguiculatum, porrectum; lamina 3-loha,
disco tuberculato, mucrone infiexo, lobis lateralibus late oblongis, obtusis, ascendentibus, conniventibus.
Columna brevis, semiteres, aptera, rostello bifido. Anthera 2-locularis. Pollinia 4>, cereacea, per paria
globosa, arete connata, caudiculæ late lineari adnata.— Herba epiphytica; radieibus tortis, filiformibus,
elongatis ; caule brevissimo ; foliis 3 -5, distichis, falcatis, lineari-lanceolatis, acuminatis, basi articulatis ;
scapo breviusculo; f l o r i b u s racemosis,pateniihus, longiusculepiedicellatis.
Gunnia is one oi the most southern of the Epiphytic Orchideæ, and is unknown in Australia, where epiphytes
have hitherto been foimd only to the northward of Port Jackson or lllawan'a. It is closely allied to the genus
Sarcochilus of Australia and New Zealand.—Gunnia australis, the only known species, is a small Epiphyte, almost
steinless, with numerous tufted, veiy long, flattened, tortuous, filiform roots, often a foot long, that spread along
the decayed twigs of the shrubs in wliich it grows, or arc pendulous in the air.—Leaves three to five, conaceous,
linear-lanccolate, acuminate, falcate, 2-4 inches long, with numerous parallel veins, jointed on to the stem. Raceme
about as long as the leaves, six- to teu-flowei’ed. Flowers yellow, spreading, pedicelled, about inch broad, very
sweet-scented, like honeysuckle, Sepals oblong-lanceolate ; the dorsal erect ; lateral connate irith the long claw
of the labellum, spreading. Petals lanceolate, free, asceudiug. Lahellum with a long, prominent unguis, bearing
at its apex a small, tuberculate disc, which expands into a three-lobed lamina, formed of two incurving, broad-
oblong, lateral lobes, and a smaller, oblong, emai'ginate middle lobe. Column very short. Anther terminal, hemispherical,
two-celled. Pollen-masses appearing to be only two, aud globose, but each formed of a closely combined
pair, attached to a strap-shaped caudicle, which unites them to the top of the stigma. (Named in honour of 7?. C.
Gunn, Esq., F.R.S., of Tasmania.)
1. Gunnia austraUs (Lindl. in Bot. Reg. n. 1699). {Gunn, 436.) (T a b . CXXVIII.)
H a b . On the trunks and branches of bushes and small trees in dense forests at Erau Bay, Black
River, Circular Head, Great Swan Port, etc., Backhouse, Milligan, Gunn.—(FI. March.)
P la t e CXXVIII. Fig. 1, flower; 2, column, anther, and pollen; 3, the same, with anther and pollen removed
; 4 and 5, upper and lower side of anther-case ; 6, pollen ; 7, transverse section of ovary :—all magnified.
N a t . O b d . II. IR ID EÆ .
Upwards of thirty Irideoe have been discovered in extratropical Australia, of which only one or two
advance northward into the tropic. They belong to three genera, of which one only, Lihertia, is extra-
Australian, being found in New Zealand aud Chili. By far the greater number of species are inhabitants
of South-western Australia, and only one or two are common to that and the south-eastern quarter.
Gen. I. PATERSONIA, Br.
Perianthium petaloideum, regulare, hypocrateriforme, tubo gracili; limbi sexpartiti laciniis interioribus
minutis. Stamina 3, filameutis connatis. Stylus capillaceus. Stigmata 3, lamellata, indivisa. Capsula
polysperma, spathis tecta.—Herbæyjemmei/ radice fibrosa; subnullo; {6\m equiiantibus, ensformi-
bus; sczpo simplici, ebracteato ; spatha exteriore bivalvi, spathas partiales unifloras confertas includente ;
floribus sensim erumpentibus, fugacihus, cæruleis, immaculalis ; seminibus sæpius angulis internis loculi,
nunc columnæ centrali, affixis.
The plants of this genus, of which about tweuty-four are known, are for the most part very beautiful, but
owing to tbe exceedingly fugacious corolla, arc difficult of preservation in a good state for after examination. P.
glauca, the only common Tasmanian species, is a perfectly gkbrous, rigid herb, 1 - l i foot high, with fibrous roots,
very short rhizome, and equitant, fincar, sword-shaped, rigid, pungent leaves, 6-18 inches long and broad,
slightly convex on both surfaces, and roughish at the margin, enclosed in sheathing, brown scales at the base.
Scape veiy much shorter than the leaves, 1-3 inches long. Outer spathe of two equal, lanceolate, glabrous leaves,
1 inch long, containing several, much narrower, scarious, shining, red-brown bracts, of equal length, each of which
encloses a flower. Perianth with a very slender tube, aud six-lobed, regular limb, of which the alternate lobes are
very mmutc, pale blue ; larger lobes rounded-obovate. Style erect, short, with three broad, spreading, foliaceous,
stigmatic lobes. Capsule prismatic, linear, shorter than the spathe, three-valved ; valves leaving a slender, erect,
central column, to which the seeds are attached, Seeds linear-ovoid, dark red-brown, shining, polished, with a conspicuous
white funiculus.— Gunn considers that there are two Tasmanian species, but tbe shrivelled state of the
corolla of his specimens prevents me fi-om determining this point. (Named in honour of Colonel William Paterson,
a sedulous investigator of New South Wales botany,)