O E C ] I I D S OF THE SIKKIM-HIMALAYA.
7. BULBOPHYLLUM POLVEIIIZUM, Lindl. Gen. and Spec . Orchid., 53.
Ixhizome branching, thread-like, naked; pscudo-hdbs globular or OToid, with a broad
base, about 1 in. apart, Buiootli. Leaf narrowly oblong, sub-acute, slightly narrowed to
tho sessile biise, deciduous before tlie scapes flower, 2*5 in. long and -So in. broad.
Scape filiform, about 4 in. long, its peduncle sub-erect, longer than the raceme, with
one or two minute bracteoles; raceme iuchned, with about six secuiid distant paleyellowish
flowers "20 in. long ; Jloral bract minute, oblong, about as long as the short
stalk of the ovary. Sepals spreading, sub-acute ; the dorsal ovate, concave; the lateral
pair longer, oblong-lanceolate, sub-acute, 3-nervcd. Petals much shorter than the
sepals, broadly ovate, acute, 1-nerved. Lip stipitata, deflexed from the base, oblong,
obtuse, scabcrulous, the basal half grooved. Column with very short sharp teeth ; its foot
short, slightly cui'ved. Anther papillose, its lip acute. Hook. fil. Fl. Br. Ind. V, 767:
ill Ann. Bot. Gard. Cale., V, Ft. I, 15, t. 23.
Sikkiiii; in the valley of the Teesta; elevation about 1,500 feet; Lister, PantUng
No. S;60. Nepal; Wallich. Dehra-Dun; Gamble; in flower in April.
In the Delu-a Dun specimens the pseudo-bulbs are crowded on tho rhizome, and
they are so depicted in Wallich's drawing of the Nepal plant. But in Sikkim they
are, in the few specimens hitherto collected by Mr. Pantling, as here described
and figm-ed, about one inch distant from each other. Tlie flowers, however, agree with
those of the Dehra Dun specimens and with Sir Joseph Hooker's description. The
plant is quite leafless when flowering ; its flowers are of a uniform pale yellow; it is
rare in Sikkiin. In his Centixrij of Ludían Orchids, published in the fifth volume of these
Anr.als, Sir Joseph Hooker has described and figured what ho considers may either be
a vai'iety of tlds species or a distinct one, for which, in either case, he proposes the
trivial naine son-h. This plant was once found by lli-. Lister in Sikkim ; he sent it to
the Botanic Garden, Citlcutta, where it flowered and was figured in April 1877. It
has oblong-ovate pseudo-bulbs, twice (rarely thi-ice) constricted transversely, as if formed
of three internodes; and these intemodes are vertically traversed by many deep grooves
with traaid interspaces; the whole pseudo-bulb having (as depicted) somewhat the
appearance oí three superposed rows of green oblong beads; the pseudo-bulbs, moreover,
emit surculi from their bases. We have unfortunately not been able to rediscover this
plant in Sikkim. In a small living specimen of it received from Mr. J. S. Gamble,
Dh-ector of the Forest School at Dehra Dun, and grown on the Cinchona Plantation in
Sikkim, the pseudo-bulbs were distant from each other very much as represented in the
fiffure of the Sikkim plant. 'There were also two nr three horizontal lines on them,
but so inconspicuous as not to be noticed without examination.
PLATS 95. BuloophyUtm polyi-hiniim, LiLdl. Leafing NND flowering plants, of natural aise. I'ig. 1
flower, 2 btaat, stalked ovary, oolumn, foot and lip, seen from the »ide, 3 lip, 4 column with
its minute apical teeth and foot, 5 anther, G polliiiia; all enlarged.
8. BULBOPHIXLDM CYUNDRACEUII, Lindi. Gen. and Spec. Orcliid., 53,
Rhizome stout, '25 in. thick; pseudt-hiilbs none. Leaf oblong-elliptic, acute, the base
tapering to the long petiole; length of blade 5 to 12 in.; petioles nearly as long, channelled.
Scape 12 to 18 in. long, blackish-purpie, the pedicel with a few acute sheathing
bracts and a pair at the base; spike cylindric, 2 to 3 in. long, nodding. Fkiuers
densely crowded and imbricate, dorsally compressed, '3 or -So in. long, blackishpurple
(almost black); Jlcral Iraat of a paler colour, ovatc-acuminate, longer than tho
E D L B O P H R L L U I L . 7 1
sessila ovary. Sepals sub-connivent, unequal; the dorsal ovate, acuminate; the lateral
pair broadly oblong, unequal-sided; their inner edges straight, parallel and cohering,
the outer rounded; the apices acute, entire. Petals falcate-lanceolate, truncate at the
base, the apex acumipate and denticulate. Lip thick, ovate, deflexed about the middle,
the apex obtuse, papillose, the posterior half deeply grooved. Column with largo fleshy
unequally tridontate apical processes; the foot rather straight, swollen in the middle.
Anther quadrate, flattened, and with a fleshy oval centre. Wall. PI. As. Rar. I, t. 69;
Hook. fil. Fl. Br. Ind. V, 765.
Sikkim; at elevations of 6,000 to 7,000 feet; Clarke, King, Thompson, Pantling
No. 2-59. Nepal; Wallich. Assam and Khasia Hills; Griffith No. 5128 (Kew Distrib.);
J . D. Hookor and T. Thomson; Mann (at 4,000 feet); in flower from October to January.
The cohimn is of a paler purple than the rest of the flower, and the floral bract is
of the same tint. The colour of other parts of the flower makes the nearest possible
approach to black. The plant which we here figure and describe is that which is found
in Sikkim. But, according to Sir Joseph Hooker, there is considerable variation in specimens
from different localities. He describes a sheath rising from near the apex of the
peduncle and embracing the base of the spike, but ihis sheath is not usually found in the
Sikkim plant. The colour of the flower also is described by him as white or pink;
and in a fi>rm collected by WaUich in Nepal (but of which no specimen is extant)
it is said to be yellow. Sir Joseph admits two varieties, (a) cylindraccim proper, with the
upper sheath of the peduncle embracing the base o£ the spike, and (}) var. Khasiana,
with the sheath smaller and distant from the spike. Tho Sikkim plant rarely has this
sheath.
The synonymy of these varieties is given by Sir Joseph Hooker as follows:—
cylindracmn proper = B. imbrioatum, Griff. Notul. Ill, 289.
var. Kkasiana = B. Ehasianum, Griff. Notuh III, 284; Reichb. fil. in Gard.
Chron. 1»78, II, 716.
PL-VTE 96.—C///<'«<FR(7IFIXIN, Lindl. A.-pXtiTit, of natural site. Fig. I dorsal sepal, 2 flower,
ovary aud bract, 3 ovary, oolumn with its foot, and the lip, seen from the side, 4 lip, 5 the petals,
6 column showing its tridentats apical processes, the foot with its aaterior dilatstioa, and the pollinia
in situ, 7 auther, 8 pollinia; all enlarged.
9. BULBOPHI'LLUM CAREYANUM, Spreng. Veg. Ill, 732.
Rhisome stout, woody, "2 in. thick; pieudo-hulls erect, ovoid, ribbed, about 3 in.
apai-t, 1-5 in. long and about 1-2 in. in diameter. Leaf oblong, sub-sessile, tapering to
each end; the apex sub-acute, notched; length 5 to 10 in.; breadth -8 to 1-65 in.
Seape about the length of the . pseudo-bulb, stout, brown, and clothed with many
lanceolate bracts of the same colour, bearing at its apex a densely-flowered decurved
raceme 2 to 3 in. long; floral bract lanceolate, longer than the stalked ovary. Flowers
•25 to '3 in. long, imbricate, dark brown, shining. Sepah unequal; the lateral pair
oblong-ovate, acute, cohering by their tips but free at the base; the dorsal smaller,
oblong, acute, quite free from the laterals from its base. Petals only about one-third
of the size of the sepals, fleshy, narrowly triangular, with caudate-acuminate apices
and with a few projecting bristle-like teeth on the edges. Lip longer than the petals,
oblong, with a broad base and two short falcate side lobes or auricles obscurely erose
at the apices, the edges minutely ciliolate. Colunm rather stout, with two short broad
apical teeth and a short curved foot. Lip of anther erose; 'pollinia obovoid. Wall.
Cat. 1990-1; Lindl. Gen. and Spec. Orchid., 51; Heichb. fil. in VValp. Ann. VI, 256;