2 U OKCIÍIDS OP TJIE SIEKIM.HlM.4LA.rA.
l)eiiig sometimes cionciform; morcoTcr, its disc is in some specimeus flat, in others
channelled. The plant is widely distiibuted and local varieties have been too fi-eely
treated as species. There is considerable divergence also as to time of flowering. The
form here ligxired is that found in Sikkim.
PL.\TR; 284,—Rhynclmtylis rsUisa, Blume. A plant, of natural size. Fig. 1 r, floTrer, 2 braet,
Ktelked ovary, column, witli autker in situ, aud spurred liypoohile, scon from the side, 3 seotiou of
spur, 4 lower surface of anther, 5 column with antlier in situ, G polliniai all enlarged.
5 0 . Vanda, R. Brown.
Epiphyies with leafy stems. Leaves tliickly coriaceous or fleshy, flat aud keeled or
terete. Racemes axillary. Flowers lai-ge and usually handsome, in simple lax or dense
i-acemes, sometimes solitary; t\\d Jloml bract much smaller than the ovary, /yi/xii^ and
j)etals sub-equal, spreading or connivent, uan-owed at the base. Lip lai-ge, with its
base usually saecatc or sparred; the side lobes large or small (rarely absent), adnate
to tlie short foot of the column or to the sides of the sac or spin-; apical lobe
fleshy, varying iu shape, its disc usually ridged or lamellate, sometimes carunculate-
Column shoii;, stout, without a foot or with only a sliort one. Antlier 2-celIcd; rostellum
small; poUiuia two, didymous, globose-obovoid or broadly ovoid; the caudicle broad and
short, or long and geniculate; gland usually large. Species about 30, tropical Asiatic
aud Australian.
Leaves terete 1. V. teres.
Leaves uaiTowIy oblong, keeled.
Lip spurred at tlie base.
Apical lobe of lip oblong, carunciilate, not ridged, its apes broadly
emarginato or minutely bilobed S. V. parvijlora.
Apical lobe of lip boldly ridged aud carunculate; its apex witk
two divaricating lobules and with a downward pointing horn . 3. V. crislata.
Apical lobe ridged but not carunculate, its apes sub-trunoate . . if. V.
Lip gibbous, but not spurred or saccate at the base 5. V, aliiina.
1. VANDi TERES, Lindl. in "Wall. Cat.; Gen. and Spec. Orch., 217.
Stem 2 to 8 feet long, sub-scandent, slender, branched, smooth, naked. Leaves fleshy,
terete, tapering to the sub-obtuse apex, 4 to 8 in. long and as thick as a goose-quill.
Peduncle extra-axillary, slender, longer than the leaves, sub-erect, bcaiing a few sliort
bracts; raceme 2- to C-flowored. Flowers 2-5 to 3 or even 4 in. across. Dorsal sepal
broadly elliptic, rotund or obovate, blunt; the lateral j^f^ii" broadly oblong or obovate,
falcate, obtuse, somewhat undulate. Petals larger than the latei"al sepals, sub-rotund,
wide-spreading. Lip longer than the sepals, adnate lilco the lateral sepals to the very
short foot of the column; spur infiindibuliform, puberulous inside, the mouth very wide,
with large rounded obliquely elliptic side lobes; the apical lobe clawed, obovate, deeply
bifld. Column short with a broad base and a very short foot, pubescent in front.
Anther with a long apical beak, depressed. PolUnia broadly ovoid, biiid; caudicle stout,
tapered to the large reuiform or cordate gland. Capsule narrowly fusiform, 2-5 in, long.
Lindl, in Wall. Cat. 7324; Gen. and Spec. Orch. 217; Fob Orch. 7; in Bot. Reg.
t. 1809; Bot. Mag,, t. 4114; Paxt. Mag. Bot. V, t. 193; Griff. Notuh HI, 353;
Warn. Sel. Orch. Ser. Ill, t. 2; Reichenbachia, I, t. 27; Hook. fil. Fl. Br. Ind. VI, 49.
DendroUim teres, Roxb. Fl. Ind. Ill, 485.
Sikkim, common in the Tcrai and occasionally found in very hot valleys; in flower
dui-ing March aud April; Pantliug, No. 45. Assam, Sylhet, Khasia Hills, Chittagong
and Upper'Burma, Andaman and Xicobar Islands.
The sepals aud petals ai-e rose-coloured, as are the side lobes and apex of the lip.
The spur is yellow or ferruginous, boldly lined with puiplish-brown extemaliy and
speckled with red in the throat. A variety with the rose colour supplanted by white is
occasionally met with. In this specie,s as found in Sikkim the flowers measure only tw<f
and a half inches iu expanse, the form with flowers four inches wide not yet having been
observed in the Province. At the base of the Khasia Hills, and in many parts of Assam,
the large aud small-flowered forms grow together. They are structurally the same. The
nearest ally of this is the Malayan V. Jlookeriana, Benth. On the removal of the
pollen apparatus from the anther, the pollinia fall foi-ward because of the folding of
the caudicle, and they ultimately rest on the gland.
PLATE Vanda teres, Lindl. Upper part of a plant, of natural size. Fig. 1 ovary, column and
lip, side view, 2 column with anther in situ and foot, 3 ftpex of column with pollinia in situ, i pollinia
after removal and after the bending of the caudicle, 5 empty anther, from boiow; aU eularged.
2. VASDA PARVIFLOEA, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. XXX (1844), Misc. 45.
Stem stout, 4 to 12 in. long, clothed with the remams of sheaths of fallen leaves.
Leaves Hnear-oblong, conduplicate, keeled, unequally and obtusely 2-lobed at the apex,
the base not narrowed; length 3 or 4 in., breadth when flattened out -4 to -ó in.
Lnflorescence from below and about as long as the leaves; the peduncle as long as
tho raceme, bearing a few small scattered sheaths; raceme few-flowered. Floivers -6 in.
in diam. Bqyals spathulate, obtuse, the lateral pair shorter than the dorsal. Petals
spathulatc-oblong, falcate, as long as tho lateral sepals. Column tMck, short, with a
very short foot. Lip adnate to the foot of the column, spm-red; the spiu- narrowly
infimdibuHform, half as long as the ovary, its mouth with erect oblong, rounded or
sub-acute, side lobss; tho apical lobe fleshy, dccurved, oblong; the apex broad, erose,
minutely emarginato or 2-lobulate; the upper surface cai-uncled and -with a deep groovu
down the centre. Anther depressed, very slightly beaked iu front; pollinia sxib-globosc,
bifid. Capsule -8 in. long, fusiform, with winged ridges. "Wight Ic. 1669; Roichb. til. lu
Gard. Chron. 1877, 11, 166; Hook. fil. Fl. Br. Ind. VI, 50. JErides WigUianum, Lindl.
in Wall, Cat. 7320; Gen. and Spec. Orch,, 238; in Journ. Linn. Soc. Ill, 40; Bot.
Mag,, t. 5138; Wight Ic. V, p. 8; Dalz. and Gibs. Fl. Bomb., 2G5.
Sikkim, at the base of the range and in tho bottoms of hot valleys; in flower from
April to June; Pantling, No. 270. Westward to Kumaon and Nepal; eastward and
southward to AssUm and'Burma; also on tho Western Gháts of Southern India and
in Ceylon.
The sepals and petals axe pale buif, and the apical lobo of the lip is bluishpurple.
There is, however, some variation as to colour, one form having sepals aud
petals brown, and another sepals and petals white; but neither of these hoa hithertw
been found in Silikim,