OKCHIDS OP THE SIEKIM-iriMALAYA.
9. Dexdrobiuji cumulatum, Liudl. iu Gard. Cliron. 1855, 756.
Siem orect, thiu at tbc base, thickoiiing upwards to '5 in.; 1 to 2 feet in
length. Leaves obloQg-Ianceolato, acuto, length 3 to 4 in., breadth •75 to 1 in.
Flowers 1'25 in. long, in small corymbifoi'in racemes; floral Iraot lanceolate, much
shorter than the stalked ovary. iScj^a/s—the dorsal elliptic, sub-acute; the lateral
pair similar. Petals obovate, larger than the dorsal sepal. Lip as long as the petals,
obovate-spathulate, with a broad erose eniarginate apes, the base contracted into a
long narrow claw, geniculate near its insertion to the pouched apex of the mentum,
and with a horizontal retrose tooth at the bend. Column very short, broad j its foot
much produced, narrow, tapering downwards, grooved in the middle and expanded at
the lower extremity. Anther set at a right angle to the axis of the column, its lip
acute. Bot. Mag. t. 5703; Reichb. fil. in Gard. Chron. 1868, 6; Veitch Man. Dendrob.
S i ; Hook. fil. Fl. Br. Ind. V, 731.
Sikkim; in tropical valleys at elevations up to 3,000 feet; in flower in Jane
and July; Pantling No. 27G. Bbotan, Lister. Assam. Khasia Hills; Rita. Also in
Upper Burmali.
The flowers of this pretty species are pale purple, the lip being white with
sometimes a pink patch near the apex and yellowish at the base; the mentum
and apes of column are pale purple. A specimen was collected in Sikkim with the
flowers pure white, the apex of the spur being pale green.
P l a t e Qi^.—Dendrobium cumulolum, Lindl. A plant, of natural size. Fig. 1 floral bract, stalked
OTDxy, column and lip, seen jrom the side, 2 longitudinal section of tbe base of tiie lip and of the
column, showing the junction of the two and tbe horizontal tooth on the former, 3 the lower
half of the lip, showing the horizontal tooth at its flexure, 4 column aud its foot, showing the
curved sac at the base of tbe latter, 5 anther seen from behind, 5 pollinia; all enlargtd.
10. Dendrobium longicorot, Lindl. iu Wall. Cat. 1997.
Stems 6 to 12 in. long, tufted, slender (about -2 in. thick), erect, covered with
short coarse black hairs. Leaves scattered, linear-lanceolate, slightly han-y; the apices
acute, oblique, not notched; length 1'25 to 2 in., breadth -25 to -35 in. Flowers
lateral and tei-minal, 1'75 to 2 in. long, solitaiy or in 2- or 3-flowered racemes; floral
hract lanceolate, hairy, concave, much shoi-ter than the slender pedicclled ovary. Sepals
ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, keeled (in the living plant). Petals lanceolato to ovatelanceolate,
acute or acummate. Lip (when spread out) broadly ti-iangular, 3-lobed, with
a broad ridge running along its centi-o from the base to the apex, dividing near the
apex into 3 or 4 short branches; side lobes rounded, boldly nerved, aud with broad
erose apices; the terminal lobe small, sub-orbicular, fimbriate. Column short, the
foot broad at its base, contracted towards the apex into a fanncl-shaped spur nearly
as long as the stalked ovary. Lip of anther tinmcate, fringed; the inner pollmia
very naiTow. Lind. Gen. and Spec. Orchid., 80; Bot. Reg. t. 1315; vol. for 1844,
Misc. 83; in Joum. Linn. Soc. Ill, 16; Walp. Ann. VI, 292; Veitch Man. Dcndi-ob. 56;
Hook. fil. R. Br. Ind. V, 720. D. flexuosum, Griff. Notul. Ill, 317.
Sikkim; common at elevations of from 4,000 to 8,000 feet; Pantlmg, No. 15;
flowering from Sc2)tember to November; eastward along the Himalaya to Nepal,
Khasia and Naga Hills.
DENIIKOBIUM. 47
A species vaiying somewhat as to the size of its flowers and as to the form of
the middle lobe of the lip. A very hh-suto form with larger leaves than above described,
and with broader sepals and petals, and lip setosely fringed on the central ridge and on
the nerves, was described as a distinct species by Griffith (whom Reichcnbach filius
followed) under the name of D. hirsuPm. (Griff. Notul. HI, 318; Ic. PL As. t. 305;
Reichb. fil. in Gard. Ciaron. 1884, H, 488). But Lindley reduced this species to a
variety (hirsuta) of this, a course followed by Sh- Joseph Hooker (Fl. Br. Ind. 1. c.).
This qjecies occasionally flowers two years in succession from the same pseudo-bulb.
The colour of the sepals and petals is pure white; the Kp on the upper sm-face is pale
brown, veined witli pale orange and having a central line of that colour.
P l a t e 6i.—Dendrobium longicornu, Liudl. A plant, of natural sise. Pig. I floral bract, stalked
ovary, column, spur-abaped mentum and lip, seen from ike side, 2 petals, 3 lip, spread out, 4 column
and funnel-shaped mentum (spur), 5 anther, 6 pollinia. Ms. 1 and 2 of natural size, Nos. S to 6
enlarged.
11. Dendrobium fobmosum, Roxb. in Wall. Cat. 1998; Fl. Ind. Ill, 48-5.
Stems terete, 9 to 18 in. long and '5 or '6 m. thick, erect, the sheaths pubescent.
Leaves oblong, the apex obliquely sub-acute and notched ; length 3 to 5 in. breadth 1
to l'2o in. Flowers large, white, in short terminal or lateral racemes of three to
five, fi'om 3 to 5 in. across; floral hract short, ovate, sheathing. Sepals oblonglanceolate,
acute, spreading, keeled. Petals much larger than the sepals, sub-orbicular,
cuspidate, the edges undulate. Lip obcuneate or broadly-obovate ; the side lobes small
and indistinct; the termmal lobe dilated, its apex very broad, slightly emarginate,
minutely mucronate, its edges undulate but not fimbriate; disc with two (ubercled
yellow central ridges. Coluvm rather broad, its edges not winged, its fuot short
and contracted at the apex into a small sac; the mentiim half as long as the
dorsal sepal, conical. Anlker quadrate ; pollinia narrowly oblong. Lindi. Gen. and
Spec. Orchid., 81; in WaU. PI. As. Rar. I, 34, t. 39; in Bot. Regist.'1838
Misc. No. 86; 1839, t. 64; in Journ. Linn. Soc. Ill, 16; Paxt. Mac^ hot Vl'
p. 49, wùh fig. - Fl. des Serres, t. 226 and XVI, t. 1633-4; Williams'°Urchid Alb!
VII, t. 308 ; Veitch Man. Dendrob. 44, with fig.-, Hook. fil. Fl. J3r. Ind. V 721.
D. Injundihalum, Reichb. fil. (not of Lindl.) iu Regel Garten Florn, XXXVl t. 1253
At the base of the Sikkim-Himaiaya, common; Pantling No. 271; flowering
during May. Distributed westward to Nepal and eastward to the base of the Khasia
Assam and Burmese ranges ; Andaman Islands.
The lip in the Sikkim plant is yellow and the rest of the flower pure white •
the colunm is yellowish in its lower half. This i.s a variable species as regards thè
siae of its flowers, and to a slight extent also as to the coloration of the lip. In
his "Flora of British India" Sir Joseph Hooker admits three varieties. The plant here
figured appears, as far as we have been able to observe, to be constant in the
chai-acters above recorded.
P l a t e 65.~Dendrobium formosum, Eoxb. Stem in flower, with young one at its base, of
natural stse. Fig. 1 column with anther in dtu, and foot, front view, 2 vertical section oi' the precediDg,
seen from the side, 3 pollinia ; all enlarged. 4 dehisced capsule; of natural size.