ORCHIDS OP THE SIKKIil-II [MALAYA.
1 8 . LIPAEIS PXCMIEA, K
Ton-cstrial ; whole plant not exceeding 3 in. iu height. Psendo-biilhs loss than 'o io,
long, narrowly ovoid, loosely enveloped in two or three membranous withered sheaths.
Leaves two, from the apex of the jjseudo-bulb, sub-opposite, ovate, acute, seasile,
sheathing at the base, '5 in. long. Inflorescence erect, rather stout, throe or four times
as long as the leaves, the peduncle ebraoteate, the raeeme 2- to 3-flowered ; jloral bract
subulate, less than half as long as tiie padicelled ovary. Flowers •25 iu. long, yellowish.
Dorsal sepal oblong, blimt, arching over the column; the lateral pair less than half as
• b roa d as the dorsal, lying parallel under the lip and protruding beyond it. Petals
linear, acute, spreading, the margins reflesed. Lip oblong-obovate, slightly deflexed
fi'om about the middle; the basal half concave and with entii-e edges; the apical or
deflcsed half obscurcly erose; the base with a large bilobed callus just under the
column; the apex broad, apiculate. Column with short wings near the apex; the base
very wide, flattened from back to front. Anther with an acute beak. PolUnia elliptic,
rostella two.
Sikkim-Himalaya, below Jongri; elevation 13,000 feet; Pantling No. 449; in flower
in June.
PLATE AL—Liparis _pygm:E%, Kiug and Pantliug. Two plants, of natural sise. Fig. 1 flower,
front vietv, 2 floral bract, stalkel ovary, oolrnnn and lip, in projile, 3 lip, 4 column with anther,
5 anther, 6 polliaia in situ; all enlarged.
19. LIPAUIS PLATVRACHIS, Hook. fil. Ic. Plantar., t. 1890.
Epiphytal. Pseudo-bulbs tufted, oblong, compressed, -5 in. long, each beaiing three to
five linear-lanceolate thickly membranous acute leaves with sessile sheathing bases; length
•5 to l"2o in. Inflorescence pendulous, much elongated; the pp.dunolc interruptedly
winged and with short linear bracteoles; raceme thicker than the peduncle and also
with a winged racbis, many-flowered ; floral braot subulate, much shorter than the
jiedicelled ovary. Flowers •2-5 in. long and about -1 in. broad. Sepals elliptic (when
flattened out), their edges much recurved, the dorsal narrower than the lateral pair.
Peials linear, blunt, decuvved, their edges re\'olute. Lip about half as long as the sepals,
quadrate, deflexed about the middle; the basal half with four calli. one pair conical erect
at the sides of the very minute nectary, and a second pair triangular and depressed
.immediately in front of the former; the decurved apical half of the lip with a broad
lound apes having a bi'oad short apiculus at its centre. Colvmn with a small triangular
will"- on each side of the stigma, the base dilated and compressed from back
t o front. Anther with broad rouiided lip. PolUnia clavate-oblong. Hook. fil. Fl. Br.
Ind. V, 70S.
Sikkim; Treutler, Clarke; at elevations of 4,000 to 5,000 feet. Pantling, at Choongi
h a n g ; elevation 6,000 feet. No. 417. Flowering in September.
Very sparingly collected hitherto. Mr. Pantling's specimens were found growing on
t h e branches of a bamboo. The more elongated raceme, quadri-tubercular lip, and flattened
dilated base of the column distinguish this at once from its nearest ally L. ddicatula.
The sepals, petals, and decurved portion of the lip and anther of this are pale
ocliraceous; the column and straight or basal portion of the lip are green.
PLATE 45.—Liparis platyrachis. Hook. fil. Two plants gi-owing on a branch of bamboo, of natural
Fig. 1 flower, with a port of the winged raohis, 2 column, front view, 3 lip, vieicecl from
abote and in front, 4 the anterior poi't of the lip, 5 an empty anther, 6 pollinia; all enlarged.
20. LIPARIS DELICATULA. Hook. fil. Ic. Plantar., t. 1S89.
Epiphytal. Pseudo-bulbs tufted, ovoid or oblong, '33 to -5 in. long. Leaves two, narrowly
elliptic, tapering equally to each end, sessile or shortly petioled, rising from near
the apex of the pseudo-bulb, -5 to I'o in. long, membranous. Inflorescence two or three
times as long as tlie leaves, slender, bearing three or four ovate-lanceolate spreadin«r
bracteolcs; raeeme about as long as the peduncle, few-flowered; floral bract ovate
acute, shorter than the ovary. Floioers '25 in. long, ochreous, the column pale-green.
Sepals ovate-lanceolate, acute, their edges recurved, the dorsal one curved backward.«
t h e lateral pair falcate, diverging. Pelals linear, obtuse, decurved. Lip orbicular-oblong^
shorter than the sepals; the apex much recurved and with a blunt apiculus, hispiduloust
h e rest of the surface smooth, the edges entire, the base with several short lateral
folds and a central small orbicular nectai-y with a thickened fold forming a pseudotubercle
at each side of it. Column short, stout, slightly bent forwards and with largo
broadly triangular wings. Hook. .fil. Fl. Br. Ind. V, 705. L. deeurrens, Kidley in
Journ. Linn. Soc. XXII, 291 {in part).
The lip as hero described would appear to differ from the same part as described
by the author of the species in his Icones Plantarum and Flora of British India—a discrepancy
which is entirely explained by tlie fact that, while the former was drawn up
f r om a living specimen, the latter was prepared from a dried one. A careful comparison
made in the Kow Herbarium shows that the plants described are identical.
Sikkim-Himalaya; on Sittong; elevation 6,000 feet; Pantling No. 155; flowering in
August and September. Khasia Hills; elevation 4,000 to 5,000 feet; Hooker °and
Thomson, Lobb. Mishmi Hills in Assam; Griffith.
PLATE i6.~Liparis dcHcatula, Hook. fil. A plant, of natural Bize. Fig. 1 a flower, 2 lip, except
the apes, 3 the recuived apes of the lip, 4 anther, 5 poUinia; all enlarged.
21. LIPARIS VIKIDIPLOEA, Lhidl. Gen. aud Spec. Orchid., 31,
Epiphytal. Psetido-lulhs orbicular, much compressed, somewhat flattened at the
apex, tufted, about 1 in. in diam. lemei two, from the apex of a pseudo-bulb, oblonglanceolate,
acute, keeled, narrowed to tho base, sessile, 3 to 6 in. long and '75
to 1 in. broad. Injhreseence from the apex of the pseudo-bulb, at first "erect but
ultimately pendulous, longer than tho leaves; the peduncle winged and bearing several
subulate bracts -2 in. long; rmax longer than the peduncle, many-flowere°d; ./Zoroi
tract linear, equal to, or longer than, the pedicelled slightly docurved ovary. 'i'huiitB
•2 in. long, green. SepaU ovate-elKptic, sub-acute, flat. Pelals linear-oblong, acute,
1-nerved. Lip slightly decurved from tho base, broadly ovate in outline, narrowed
to the base, without side lobes and without calli, concavo especially towards the
base, the apex contracted to a triangular point at the base of which are two
marginal folds siomlating tooth-like calli. Oolrnnn sub-terete, slightly curved, the base
hardly « all thickened and the apex not winged. AnUur sub-orbicular. PolUma
narrowly triangular. Ridley in Journ. Linn. Soc. XXII, 289; Thwaites' Enum. PI.
Axs. BOT. HOT. G.iin., CiLccra, VOL. VIII.