'I'
68 ORCHIDS OF THE SlEEIM-HIlTALArA.
to 6 in. long and 1 to 2 in. broad; petiole about -25 in. loug. Flowsrs I in. in
Jiaineter, solitary or two or three from the base of a pseudo-bulb; pediccl and ovary
about as long as the pseudo-bulb; floral bract broad, sub-spathaccons, pale, ocliraceous,
spotted with purple. Sepals ovate-lanceolate, sub-aeute, 9-nerFed. Petals smaller, than
the sepals, 7-nervod. Lip shorter than the petals, thick, dccurved from below the
middle, lanceolate, the base Nvith small toothed auricles near its attachment to the
upox of the much-curved foot of tho column; the apex obtuse, the upper surface
concave and with an elongated nectar-secreting groove expanding at its base into a
triangular pit. Anther conical. Walp. 'Ann. VI, 247; Hook, fil, Fl. Br. Ind. V, 756.
Dendrobiuvi leopardinum, "Wall. Tent. Fl. Nep., t. 28. Sareopodhm kopai-dinumy Lindl.
F o l . Orch., Sarcopodium 5.
Sikkim; at elevations of 6,000 feet; not uncommon. Pantling No. 281; in flower
in October and November. Nepal; Wallic.h. Khasia Hills; Hook. fil. and T.
Thompson, G-. Mann.
A handsome species not previously collected in Sikkim. Tho sepals and p3tals are
whitish or pale-ochraceous, spotted with crimson; the lip is deep crimson or purple,
indistinctly spotted, and the column yellow, which colour passes into purple in the
mentum. The nectar, plentifully secreted by the lip, is of a pinkish colour and possesses
an odcDur suggestive of decaying fruit, which is very attractive to flies of all kinds. Mr.
Pantling has recorded the following incident, which throws some light on the fertilization
of the genus generally:—"One of the .many visitors to the plant on my table while
I was making a di-awing of it was an insect rather longer than the common housofiy,
but brownish in colour and clothed with stiS haii-s. One of these alighted on a
flower and depressed the mobile lip to its utmost, As the fly absorbed the nectar on
the anterior part of the lip it gradually approached neai-er and nearer the base, seekmg
for more. As it got to the part of the lip which bends down to join the column, the
iip began to riso, and as the latter suddenly assumed its normal position, the fly was
pressed between it and the column and was for some time held a prisoner. After
some sti-uggles, it managed to escape, canying off one of the pollinia glued to its
thorax. This incident may assist to throw some light on the use of the mobihty of the
lip so characteristic of this genus and of Ciyrhopetalum."
PLATE 92.—Bulloph'jUum Uopirdinam, Lindl. A plant, of natural siso. Fig. 1 s^ape with its
•bracts, pedicel and ovary, column and lip, seen .from tU side, 2 and 3 lip, //-o/U and back vieiot, 4 column
sliowing its muoh-curyed foot, ó anther, 6 pollinia; all enhrgsd.
5. BuLBOpm'LLUii GYMSOPUS,. Hook. fil. Ic. Plantar., t. 2040.
Rhizome about -2 in. thick, veiy long, the apical (growing) part with spotted
sheaths '5 in. long. Pssudo-bulbs about 6 or 7 in. apart, ovoid, smooth, with scarious sheaths
at their bases. Loaf nan-owly oblong, the apex blunt but slightly notched, the base
narrowed to the short petiole; length 5 to 7-o in,, breadth 1 to 1'25 in.; peliole -5 to 1
ill. Scape slender, sheathed at the base, erect, shoi-ter tlian the leaf; the peduncle
only about 1 in. long; the raceme five or six times as long, laxly-flowered; floral hract
nñnute, lanceolate, much shorter than the long-stalked ovary. Flowers -3 in. long, white
and yellow. Lateral sepals inserted on the produced foot of the column and widely
separated at their bases from the dorsal, falcate, acute, spreading downwards, their
edges incurved; the dorsal shoi-ter, lanceolate, acute, concave, crect. Petals about lialf
BULBOPHYLLUM. ^^
as long as the lateral sepals, linear-lanceolate, seiTiilate, spreading. Lip. rather sliorter
than the petals, lanccolate, with a broad base, tho apex acute. Oolumn broad, its apical
teeth short, acute, thcii- bases broad; tho foot as long as the column, sharply cm-ved
upwards at the apex. Anther papillose. Pollinia unequal, the inner two smaUor. Hook,
fil. Fl. Br. Ind. V, 764. Bulbophjllum, GxiS.. Notul. Ill, 294; Ic. PI. Asiat., t. 297;
Itin. Notes I I , 104, No. 65.
Sikkim; at Kishap; Pantling No. 357. Engo; elevation 3,000 feet; m flower iji
November and December. Bhotan, Griffith (Kew DLstrib. No. 5133). Khasia Hüls;
Griffith (Kcw Distrib. No, 5134); at Jowai, 3,500 feet, Clarke, King's Collectors.
The insertion of the lateral sepals is at the esteemity of the foot of the column,
and is separated from that of tho dorsal by a wide space. The same arrangement
occiu-s m B. Wrayi, Hook. fil. The sepals of this arc white with spots of red externally;
the petals are white; the colmnn pale-ochraceous, spotted with red in front,
and the lip and anther £
ymnopus. Hook. fil. Part of a plant, of natural size. Fig. 1 a flowor,
2 bract, Etallsetl ovary, column and Hp, seen from the side, 3 Up, 4 column with its foot and anther
in situ, 0 anther, 6 pollinia; all enlarged.
6. BucHOPHYLLUii EiGlDDxi, ncw specUs.
nUzome about "2 in. thick, clothed with brown fibres ; pseudo-hulls none. Leaves
rising direct fi'om the rhizome about 'b in. apart, each with a whorl of fibres at tho base
of the petiole; the young leaf at flowering-time invested by a tubular sheath 2 in.
long; blade oblong, blunt, narrowed at tho base into the short petiole; length 6 to 10
in,, breadth l'7o to 2 in.; petiole 1 to 1-5 in. Scape slender, equal to or shorter than
the leaf ; the peduncle longer than the somewhat decurved spike, with one or two tubular
short sheaths at intervals. Flowers somewhat distant, yellowish, tinged with green and
streaked with red, -8 in. long; floral hract triangular, acute, longer than tho short
sessile ovary. Sepals 3-ncrved; the dorsal spreading, lanceolate with a broad base,
sub-acuminate; the lateral pair longer, oblong, obtuse, connate below, free at the apex.
Petals shorter than the dorsal sepal, oblong with aa angularly acute eroso apex,
1-nerved. Lip as long as the dorsal sepal, elliptic-oblong, blunt, the margins deflexed,
glabrous, the base with a narrow nectar-secreting groove. Column broad, its apical
processes broad and 3-toothed, its foot very short. Anther much depressed.
S i k k i m ; at elevations about 6,000 feet, Griffith (Kew Distrib. No. 5291); Pantling
No. 42 ; in flower in May and Jane.
Tho spikes of this curious species open from the apes downwards, and are often bent
a t a right angle to the peduncle. The sepals and petals are brownish-yellow flushtd
with green and have purplish nerves; the lip is of the same ground colour, but t<iwards
tho base has many minute purple spots ; the column is greenish, spotted in front like the
lip. Hitherto it has been found nowhere bnt in Sikkim. To this belongs the Griffitl'iau
specimen No. 5291 (Kew Distrib.), which has been inadvertently referred in the "Flora
of British India" to B. ccnchiferum, Rciuhb. fil., a closely allied but pseudo-bulboua
¿"pccies inhabiting the Khasia Hills.
Pi.ArE ^i.—BalLophjltwn rigidum. King and Pantling. Part of a jilant, of natural size. Fig. 1
flower, side uetc, 2 ovary, column vrith its foot, anther in siiu, and Hp, 3 lateral sepals, 4 petals,
0 lip, 6 column lowing tho tridentate processes and short foot, 7 anther, 8 poUioia; ali enlarged.