m
126 OECHIDS OF THE SIKIDJI-HIMALAYA,
LiQdl. íü Jowvn. Linn. Soc. Ill, 52; Huoli. fil. Fi. Br. Ind V, 791. H. seonmUflora, Griff.
Kotul. Ill, 803; Ic. V\. Añal., t 301. Mycarantkes sirieta, Liudl. in Wnll. Cat., 1970;
Gen. aud Spec. Orchid., 63; ^yight Ic. 1733. Ociomená secunda, Wall. MSS.
Sikkira, common at elevations of 1,000 to 4,000 feet; in flower from Novcmbet to
Febiiiary; Pantling, No. 65. Nepal; Wallich. Assam; in the Naga and Khasia Hills.
The flowers are white fluslied with pink, the column Lcing yellow and tho aides
of tiie lip inside being streaked with the same tint.
This is quite an anomalous spccies of Unaf the attachment of the pollinia by
clastic threads to a gland being sugg-estiTe of Vandeac^ to which tribe it oug^iit prolmbly
to be mnoved to form the type of a new genus allied to Ch-yptochilns,
PLATE 173.'—Erin si' iclá, LindU A plant; of miiiral sisc. Fig. 1 a flower, 2 part of orarj*, oolunlQ
aud Up, 8 lip, 4 column showing tlie autlier in situ and Btigoi», 5 antlier, 6 pollinia; all enlarged.
16. ERIA TAXICULATA, Lindl. in "Wall. PI. As. Ear. I, 32j t. 36.
Stems fcoespitose, pendiilons, one to t'wo feot long and about as thick as a gooss-quill.
Leaves numerous, fleshy, linear, acumitiate, sessile, '2 to "5 in. broad. Racemes in terminal
á'usuicles of two or thi-ee, about as long as the leaves, with long lanceolate Imcfs at their
bases, woolly, many-fiowered. Flotcm -20 to '3 in, across; Jia7-al Iract lanceolate,
«cuminate, curved, glabrous, nearly as long as the pubescent stalked ovary^ Dorsal sepal
ovate; the lateral pair triangular, sub-falcate, spreading, all softly and sparaely pubescent
tmtside. Petals about as long as the dorsal sepal, elliptic-obovate, the edges slightly
rrose. Lip in general outline sub-orbicular, 3-lobed) the base with t. large mealy callus
in front of the column; lateral lobes oblong, sub-falcate, their apices sub-acute and
directed forwards; apical lobe broad, coarsely erose, much decurved, bearing on its upper
surface a callus like that at tho base but larger. Column stout, with a narrow straight
foot about as long as itself. Anther imperfectly 8-celled, much shnlnken when the flowers
ex])and and only partly covering the eight clavate pollinia. Pollinia attached to a
broad viscid mass. "Wall. Cat., 1971; Lindl., Gen. and Spec. Orch., 65; Bot. Reg.
XXVIII (1842), Misc. 38; in Journ. Linn. Soc. Ill, 55; Reichb. fil. in Walp. Ann.
274; Hook. fil. FI. Br. lüd. V, 789.
Sikkim, at elevations of from 2,000 to 4,000 feet; Hooker, Thomson and others,
I'antling, No. 103; in flower from January to April. Khasia Hills; Griffith (Kew
Distrib. No. 51111, Prain, Simons. Sylhet; WallicK Naga Hills; Prain.
The sepals are of a jmle yellmvish-green colour; the petals, lip and column are
p i l e lavender with brownish blotches. The callus on the lip is white and has a mealy
nppearauce. In Sikkim the flowers are ia racemes which arise in fascicles. Wallich's
figure of the Nepal plant shows them as forming a short panicle,
Pi.ATE 17A..—Eria panieulala, Lindl. A plant; of natural me. Fig. 1 a iowor, front view, 2 floral
bract, stalked orary, column with its foot, anther in silu and lip, side view, 3 ]:p, 4 summit of column
with the anther curled up and «howing the pollinia in í¡V», and stigma, 6 pollinia; ail enlargei.
17. EKIA FLAVA, Lindl. in Wall. Cat,, 1973, {in part)-, Gen. and
Spec. Orch. 65.
RMiome stoxxt, clothed -nith imbiicating tubular sheaths. Pscudo'lulbs vertically
furrowed, sheathed at the base, much compressed, 3 to 4 in. long and 1-25 in, in diam.
Leaves three to five, sub-o^riaceoias, move ot less nnrrowly oblong, acumuiatc, tapering to
the base; length 6 to 9 in., breadth -75 to 1-5 in. liace.ne from the base oE the psüudobulb,
erect, stout, covered with donso pale soft tomentum, about as long as the leaves
and with several sheaths at the baso, ihtm-s distant, -6 in. long; floral Iraet lanceolate,
much shorter than the tomentose stalked ovary, shrivelled when the flowers opon, Sepals
tonientose externally, the dorsal small, lanccolate; the lateral pair much larger, triangular,
spreading. Petals lying parallel over the column, narrowly oblong, narrowed at base and
apex, smaller than tho dorsal sepal. Lip oblong, 3-lobed; the side lobes narrow with
truncate apices, pubcrulous and with two lou^r tiipering ridges at '.heir junction with
tho disc; the terminal lobo oblong, acute, deflexed, slightly 2-ridgod, glabrous. Colunvi
erect its foot at right angles to and longer than itself. Lip of anther with a small
quad'rate appendage. PoUmia small, compressed, attached to two granular memhrauRS.
Capmle narrowly cyli.idric, 1-5 to 1-75 in. long. Lindl. in Journ. Linn. So.c. Ill, 49
(e.vol. var. B.)-, Hook. fil. I'l Br. Ind. V, 8Ü1. E. lanicep^, Reichb. til. in llamb.
Gartenzeit, XIX, 10. Dendi-obiim puhescens, Hook. Exot. Flora, t. 124. Oelomeria ñava,
Wall. MSS. 0. piibescens, Spreug. Syst., t. IV. 3ï0.
Sikkim in low warm valleys and at the base of the range, common ; Pantling,
No. 130; in flower during April. Westwards as far as Kunuion and eastwards to
Bhutan. A variety named lanata, with smaller flowers and daiker coloured lip, is found
in Tenasserim; it was regarded as a species by Lindley.
The sepals and petals of the Sikldm plant are green, and the basal half of the lip
is purple on both snrfacas; the foot of the column has a blotch of the samo colour.
In specimens from Nepal and Kumaon tho flowers are yelluw. Tho leaves when dry
have often numerous small concretions on their surfaces.
PLATE 175.--En«/«R-., Lindl. A plant; of naiwal size. Fig. 1 a Cower, 2 floral bract, stnlked
ovary, column and its foot and the lip, seen from the side, 3 Hp, 4 column, 5 lower surface of anther,
6 pollinia ; all eiilaryed.
18. EKIA TANKEA, Lindl. in Bot. RT-g., 1842, Misc. 61; in Journ.
Linn. Soc. Ill, 50.
IikÍ3ome as thick as a crow-quill, woolly; stems very short, 1- to 4-k'avcd. Leaves
fleshy, evlindric, pointed at the apex, 3 to 7 in. long, and -2 to -25 in. in diam. Peduncle
terminal,' 1 to 2 in. long, woolly, 1-to 4-flowered. Flowers about -5 in, long ; I r a c t
lai'ge, ovate; the ovary pubescent, sessile. Sepals spreading, densely covered wit!i whitñ
wool externally like the ovary and bract; the dorsal broadly elliptic, sub - acute ; tho
lateral pair ovate-triang-ular, sub-acute, sub-falcate. Petals elliptic, sub-acute, slightly
pubescent, spreading. Lip fleshy, cblong, obtuse, not lobed, concave, downy, with oblong
granular calli near tho base and apex, th« edges sub-undulate. Mentum ratl.er long,
obtuse. Column short, pubesccnt outside; the foot lon¡í, curved, concave, glabrous.
Pollinia clavate, in two groups, each group united to a very small granular appoiidago.
Walp. Ann. VI, 273; Hook. ñl. Fl. Br. Ind. V, 804. ieretijolia, Griiï. Ill, 29S; Ic.
PI. Asiat., t, 300.
Sikkim, in tropical valleys and along the base of tho range; in flower during May;
Pantlin"', No. HI. Tenasserim; Parish. Porak ; Scortechini, Ridley. Malacca; LoLb.
Distrib. Borneo.