Neilgherries, on trees and rocks along the banks
of the Kartairy river below Kaitie, and also below
Neddawuttim on the N. western slopes, where
Mr. Jerdon first detected it. The petals of this
species are very unusual, and the middle lobe of
the lip in the fresh plant gives so much the idea
of a tongue, that I am told the “Tongue orchis” is the
name by which it is known to Mrs. Jerdon.
I am indebted to the accomplished pencil of
Mrs. Jerdon for the drawing; the dissections were
prepared by my draftsman.
1652. Cirrhopetalum Macr.ei ? (Lind.), petals
apiculate, naked : sepals all acuminate : leaves oblong,
lanceolate, obtuse, emarginate, about the
length of the scape. Lind. Flowers pale green
with brownish-red veins.
Ceylon, Nuera Ellia, on trees, flowering May.
I am indebted to the kindness of Mrs. Colonel
Walker for this and several other drawings of this
family.
I am now doubtful whether I have correctly
named this species as the figure does not very correctly
correspond with the description. The lateral
sepals are said to be elongated, much acuminated,
and the petals falcate, a little smaller than the
posterior petal neither of which is very conspicuously
the cdse in the figure, but the flowers are said
to be umbelled, a point more easily observed. Lip
in this plant small, recurved, thick and fleshy. The
colour of the flowers, as noted by Mrs. Walker,
is “ yellow-streaked and dotted with deep red.”
Lindley describes his as pale green with brownish-
red veins.
1653. Cirrhopetalum albidum (R. W.), leaves
oblong elliptic, obtuse, emarginate: flowers umbel-
led, scape about the length of the leaves: bracts
somewhat boat-shaped, shorter than the pedicels:
sepals all acuminate, posterior a little shorter than
the lateral ones: petals broad, ovate, obtuse: lip
short, fleshy, sub-sagittate. Flowers very pale,
greenish-yeflow or nearly cream colour.
On moist rocks, S t Catherine’s Falls, near Koter-
gherry, flowering August and September.
1654. Cirrhopetalum Neilgherrense (R. W.),
leaves linear, obtuse, emarginate, 3-nerved : scape
shorter than the leaves: umbelled, 6-8-flowered:
lateral sepals very long, broad, ovate, at the base,
tapering to a point, posterior one ovate, acute, nearly
twice the length of the broad, sub-obovate blunt
petals: lip short, cordate, ovate, recurved, hairy on
the back: prolonged base of the column pubescent
within. Flowers at first pale greenish-yellow, tinged
with pink, marked with darker lines, afterwards
becoming reddish or light rusty coloured; process
of the column red.
Kartairy below Kaitie, on moist rocks, a very
pretty species, very distinct from the preceding.
1655. Cirrhopetalum fimbriatum (R. W.), leafless
? pseudo-bulbs csespitose, irregularly angular, depressed
: scapes slender, erect, furnished with remote
appressed scales: umbels many-flowered, orbicular,
lateral sepals long linear, cohering to near the point,
posterior ovate, acuminate, and, with the conformable
but smaller petals, fimbriate on the margin:
lip ovate, obtuse, fleshy, shorter than the petals.
Lateral sepals often cohering, cream-coloured with
darker lines, petals, lip, and posterior sepal, red.
Coorg Jungles, flowering January, Jerdon. The
figure of this plant, though so far characteristic as
readily to distinguish the species, is not, correctly
speaking, a good one. It was taken from dried specimens.
Alter the plate was struck off, I saw a
much better one from the pencil of Mrs. Jerdon,
and regret exceedingly that I had not seen it in
time to have substituted it for this one.
It seems the most curious of the genus. The
flowers all spread horizontally, and are so numerous
and close set as to form a continuous circle,
whence I am told Mrs. J. gave it the name of “ Umbrella
orchis,” which had I known sooner I would
have adopted.
1656. Cirrhopetalum grandiflorum (R. W.),
pseudo-bulbs conical: leaf pedicelled, linear, subtruncate,
emarginate: scape nearly twice the length
of the leaves, 3-6-flowered: lateral sepals long,
ovato-lanceolate, tapering to a point (about inch
long), posterior sepal ovate, acute, and, with the
narrow almost subulate petals, ciliate: lip short,
fleshy, recurved, cordato-ovate. Colour of the flower
greenish, streaked and speckled with crimson, tending
to purple, lip deep red, posterior sepal and petals
yellowish.
Ceylon, on branches of trees, Nuera Ellia, flowering
in May.
The figure and character is taken from a beautiful
coloured drawing made by Mrs. Colonel Walker.
She names it doubtfully, C. Macraei, which I think
it can scarcely be, though agreeing in some points
with the character of that species.
1657. Cirrhopetalum Walkerianum (R. W .l
pseudo-bulbs ovate, surrounded at the base with
brown fibrous appendages: leaf obovate, spalhu-
late, petioled, fleshy : scape slender, erect, longer
than the leaves, 3-4-flowered: lateral sepals long,
narrow, subulate, pointed; posterior one ovate, acuminate,
acute: petals minute, obtuse, sub-falcate:
lip cordato-ovate obtuse, fleshy, recurved: upper
angles of the column produced into longish lanceolate
processes. Ovary and petals re d ; sepals yellow,
streaked with shades of red, leaf light green, fleshy.
Rambaddu, Ceylon, on trees.
I have dedicated this species to the discoverers,
Colonel and Mrs. Walker. The figure is taken
from a coloured drawing kindly communicated by
the latter, to whose accomplished pencil the Flora
of Ceylon is very deeply indebted, as this work in
many instances testifies.
1658. Cirrhopetalum caudatum (R. W.), pseudo
bulbs ovate, leaves from oblong elliptic to strapshaped,
obtuse, emarginate: scape filiform, clothed
with sheathing scales: bracts subulate, about the
length of the ovary: lateral sepals very long, ending
in very long spirally convolute filiform tails;
posterior one and petals about equal, ovate, obtuse,
and, with the base of the lateral sepals, ciliate with
remote bristly hairs: lip oval 3-crested.
Malacca, Griffith.
In the Malacca collection, communicated by the
late lamented Mr. Griffith, there are two plants
c