14 OECHIDS OP THE SIKKIM-HI MALAYA.
PiATE 16A.—Obcmiia awicutata, King and Pantling. Two plants, of miural size. Pig. 1
flower seen from the front, 2 anther, 3 polliuia; all enlarged.
20. OBEEONIA PYRULIFERA, Lindi. Fol. Orchid., Obevonia, p. 3.
Stem very short. Leaves ensiform, obliquely acute or sub-acute, sub-falcate, 1 to 2'5
in. long and '15 to '30 in. broad. Peduncle of inflorescence slender, terete, about half
a s long as the leaves; the bracts slender, subulate; the raceme about the same length or
longer, slender, decurved ; floral bract shorter than the rather long-stalked ovary, lanceolate,
acuminate, erose. Floivers minute (about '065), green, scattered, not verticillato.
Sepals ovate, acutc, entire. Petals oblong, blant, reflexed like the sepals and resting
on the ovary. Lip more than twice as long as the sepals, oblong, with a quadrato
hypochile truncate at the base, with a small rounded shoulder-like auricle at cach
extremity and a shallow triangular depression between; the ajncal lobe deeply cleft
into two oblong sub-falcate obtuse divei-genfc lobules with a large triangular sinus
between them. Capsules ovoid-cylindric, ribbed, -1 in. long. Hook. fil. FI. Br. Ind.
V, 678. 0. veriicilìata, vir. Khasiana, Lindi. Fol. Orchid., Oberonia, p. 3. Malaxis
verticillata, var. Khasiana, and M. pyrulifera, Reichb. fil. in Walp. Ann. Vi, 2i0, 211.
Valley of the Teesta in Sikkim, at an elevation of 1,000 feet; Pantling No. 191;
in flower in October. Khasia Hills, elevation 4,000 to 6,000 feet; Hooker fil. and
T.T. Wunipore; Watt.
PLATE l^'Q.—Olironia pi/rulifera, Lindi. T>vo plants, of natural sài. Fig. 1 a flower, seen from
the front, 2 anther, 3 polUnia; all enlarged.
2. Microstylis, Nutt.
Terrestrial, sometimes epiphytic (two saprophytic), pseudo-bulbous. Leaves one or
more, membranous, plicate, continuous with their sheaths (absent in two ¡species).
Flowers small, resupinate, in terminal racemes. Sepals spreading or recurvcd, sub-equal.
Petals narrower than the sepals bat of about the same length. Lip adnate to the base
of the column, usually flat; the basal lobes large, sagittate, and produced upwards, or
cup-sliaped with small lobes, or without basal lobes; the apex emarginato, 2-3-lobcd,
eros3 or entire. Column very short (rather long in M. concjcsta and M. Maxiinowic.-
ziana), with two short spreading arms. Anther sab-terminal, bilocular; pollinia 4, ovoid
or obovoid.
A genus including about sixty species, of which ten are found in Sikkim and
nine in other parts of British India and in Ceylon.
Lip slightly convex; the basal auricles sagittate, projecting upwards
and more or less hiding the rest of the flower.
Leafy.
Anteiioi lohe of Hp transversely elliptic, eroso . . .
Anterior lobe of )ip rounded, notched; the basal auricles
parallel, their tips not touching or overlapping . .
Anterior lobe of lip sub-quadrate, deeply bifid; the basal
lobsB converging, their tips touching or overlapping .
Anterior lobe of lip triangular,J its apes notched . . .
1. M. Ehaaiana.
JSL Wdlkhii.
2. jj/-. W<>lUchH,i-
3. M. ScoUii.
MICEOSTYLIS,
Leafless and saprophytic or parasitic.
Plant 3 to 6 in. high, tuber orbicular; dorsal sepal
reflexed and adpressed to the ovary; lip with a convex
fold on its upper surface
Plant 7 to 9 in. high, tuber irregularly oblong; dorsal
sepal erect; upper surface of lip smooth
Lip flesliy, concave, with two transverse calli; its anterior part
S-lobed <^ongeila.
Lip concave, entire, its apex produced into a beak; basal auricles
absent.
Plant with a single leaf
Plant with two leaves
k- M. saprophyla.
5. M. aphyila.
7. J/, cyliniroiiichja.
8. M. musei/era.
Lip hooded or deeply oup-shaped; the basal lobes short, rounded.
Flowers numerous, only -2 in. in diam 9. M. Maximoiciesiana.
Flowers few, '5 to '75 in.- in diam 10. M. •
1. MICROSTYLIS KHASIANA, Hook. fil. FL. Br. Ind. V, 686.
Stem about 3 in. high, growing doss to the base of the cylindrical leaBesa pseuiobulb
of the previous year. Leaves three or four, ovate-elliptio, slightly oblique, 4- or
S-nerved, tho apex acute or shortly acuminate, the base narrowed into the short
sheathing petiole, the edges undulate; length 3, to 5 in., breadth I to 1'5 in. Raceme
twice as long as the leaves; its peduncle ribbed, ebracteate. JPloyal hract lanceolate,
reflexed, much shorter than the ovary. Flmen spreading, -20 in. long. SejMb broadly
ovoto, concave, the dorsal narrower and sub-acute; the lateral broader, more obtuse and
more concave. I'elab linear, truncate. Lip broad, concave, with two basal and one apical
lobe; the basal lobes falcate, acute, their apices converging and overlapping; the apical
lobe' separated from tho two basal by a constriction, its outline transversely oblong,
its apex broad, erosa and somewhat iueurved, or sometimes slightly bifid without
being erose.
Sikkim-Himalaya; abundant between elevations of 3,000 and 6,000 feet; Pantling
Xo. 283. Jaintia Hills, alt. 4,000 to 5,000 feet; Lobb, Eita, Mann; Sowering from
J u l y to October.
The leaves of this beautiful species are of a lustrous greyish-green colour flushed
with purple; tho inflorescence with the pedicels and bracts of the flowers aro of a dull
purple, and the sepals and petals are purple, the lip being yellowish. There is a
sliitht amount of variation in the terminal lobe of the lip. In some plants tho lobe
is almost truncate and crosc, while in others it is somewhat rounded and minutely bifid;
and between these there aro intermediate stages. Exactly tho same variation occurs
in plants growing in tho Jaintia Hills, as has been recently proved by the examination
b y Mr. Pantling of a largo number of living plants kindly sent from these Hills
b y Mr. S. E. Rita, Assistant Commissioner there.
PL.VTE 17.—Microihjlis Khmiaiia, Hook. fil. A plant, of mtiiral size. Fig. 1 flower, froiii tiew,
2 tto a«m8, >««» .from the >ide, 3 column, 4 vortiod section oi cohnm and lip, 5 anther,
6 pollinia; all enlarged.