86 JVIALAXIDE^.
concavo, entire or slightly erose at the apex, and with a deep depression at the base jiiat
under the cohimn. Capsuk short, turgid, often gibbous. King & Pantl. in Ann.
Roy. Bot. Gard. Calc. viii, p. 4, plate o.
Common on the trunks of trees in Dchra Dun, and on the outor ranges fi-om
Mussoorie to Kuinaon, up to 4,000 feet; extending eastwards to Sikkim and the Khasia
Hills. It flowers during the cold season.
2. OaRBONiA FxU.cosf:ri Hook f. Ic. Plant, t, 1780: FI. Br. Ind. v, 673.
Stems short. Leaves 2'ó—7 cm, long, straight or falcate, acute, coriaceous. Pcduncle
of injioresecnce much shorter than the leaves, terete, bracteate. Raocines erect or decurvcd,
overtopping the leaves; the rachis stout, deeplv grooved in fruit. Floral hracl longer
than the i>vary, oblong or ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, serrulate, membranous, very
pale green. Flowers very small, shortly pedicelled. Sepals ovate, acute, reflexed. Petals
falcately lanceolate, obtuse, a little longer and narrower than the sepals, spreading.
Lip oblong or aubquadrate, upper surface glistening with many scattered g!and-like
specks ; lateral lobes small, with truncate or emarginate tips, the apex with two small
incurved obtuse lobes separated by a broad sinus. Aniher obovate, its lip emarginate.
Capsules shortly pedicelled. 0. iridifolia Wall. Cat. 1948 (1 and 3}.
Common in Dehra Dun, chiefly on mango trees, and on the outer ranges between
the J-jmna and the Ganges up to 3,500 feet; flowering during September. It extends
eastwards to Sikkitn and the Khasia Hills, and occurs also in Behar, Chota Nagpur
and in the Konkaii,
The sepals and petals are brownish-yellow, and the Hp is green. Acoording to Sir Joseph Hooker
this species is nearly allied to 0. pijrulifern Lindl., but is more rohuat, -vitli shorter and broader leaves,
and with short lateral lobes or shoulders to the lip, tlie terminal lobes of which are short and distant.
Plate 94. Oberonia Falconeri Hook. f.—A plant,—of natural sise. Fig, 1, front view
of a flower; 2, lip; 3, anther; 4, pollinia;—all enlarged.
3. Oberosia ensifokmis Lindl. Fol, Orch. Oberonia. p. 4.
Stems 7—8 cm. Leaves linear-ensiform, acuminate, falcate, 7—22 cm. long and
1—2 cm. broad. Infloresemee erect, shorter than the leaves, subti'unoate; its peduncle
5—7-6 em. long .and bearing numerous minute lanceolate appressed pale bracteoles;
raceme about twice as long as the peduncle, its rachis thick, fleshy, terete; floral bract
longer than the ovary, convolute, ovate-rotund, sub-acute, erose. Flowers 2 mm, long,
pale brown, not at all sunk in the rachis. Scpak subequal, broadly ovate, sub-acute,
entire, not ciliolate. reflexed. Peials ovate, sub-acute, stiffly pubcscent, the edges entire
and ciliolate. Lip twice as long as tho sepals, :i-lobed, with two large rounded entire
basal lobes; mesochile subquadrate, smooth, slightly concave, bearing on its edges two
large projecting blister-like processes; terminal lobe obreniform, with two rounded
lobules, separated by a broad subquadrate apical sinus; the whole surface and margins
of the lip, except the smooth mesochile, clothed with stiiS hairs. TJook. f. Fl. Br,
Ind V, 679 ; King & Pantl. in Ann. Eoy. Bot. Gari. Calc. Vol. viii, p. 9, plate 9.
MICEOSTYLIS- 87
0. acauhs Hook. Bot. Mag. ÒU56 (nut of GriEE.). 0. trilobata GrifE. Notul. iii, 273.
Malaxù ensi/ormis Smith in Rees' Encycl. ; Reichb, f. in Walp. Ann. vi, 212
(excl, syn.).
Dehra Dun, chiefly ou s^l trees, Falcomr, King, Mackinnon; and up to 3,000 feet
on the adjacent Himalaya, flowering during November. It extends eastward to Nepal,
Sikkim and the Khasia Hills, and has recently been discovered on the Nilgxris by
Mr. R. Proudlock.
2. M i c r o s t y l i s Nutt.
Terrestrial or epiphytic, rarely saprophytic, often pseudo-bulbous. Leaves one or
more, rarely absent, membranous, plicate, continuous with their sheatlis. Flowers small,
resupiuate, in terminal racemes. Sepals spreading or recurved, subequal. Fctah narrower
than the sepals but aboiit as long. Lip adnate to the base of the column, usually flat,
basal lobes large, sagittate, produced upwards, or cup-shaped with small lobes, or Avithout
basal lobes; the apex emarginate, 2—3-lobed, erose or entire. Column usually very
short (long in M. congesta), with two short spreading arms. Anther siibterminal, bilocular;
pollinia 4, ovoid or obovoid.—Species about 60, in temperate and tropical regions.
Lip slightly convex, basal auricles sagittate and projecting upwards;—
Leaves 3—4, ovate-lanceolate, acuminate
Leaves usiially 2, at the base of the scape, ovate or suborbic\
ilar, obtuse
Lip concave, entire, its apex produced into a beak, basal auricles absent:—
Leaione
Leaves two ... ... ...
1. JIiCROSTi-Lis W a l l i c u i i Lindl, in Wall. Cat. 1938.
I. J/, Wullkhii.
2. M. Mnckinnoni.
3. M. cylindrostachya
k. M. mìisci/era.
Stem about 7-5 cm. long, with a few sheaths below. Leaves three or foiir, 7-5 to
11'5 cm. in length and 3'5 to 6'o cm. broad, thinly membranous, ovate-lanceolate, acute
or acuminate, narrowed to the sheathing base, the upper ones sessile, the lower with
sheathing petioles, edges undulate. Inflorescence 3—3 dm. long; peduncle shorter tJian the
raceme, ribbed; raceme laxly many-flowered; floral Iracts lanceolate, half the length of
the stalked ovaries. Flowers yellowish-green, often tinged with purple, about 13 mm.
long. Sepals oblong, the dorsal subacute, the lateral broader and obtuse. Peials linear
obtuse, with recurved margins like those of the sepals. Lip slightly convex, narrowly
ovate in general outline; basal lobes or aiiricles lanceolate, their inner edges straightand
with an intervening space. Lip not constricted so as to form a distinct anterior
lobe, its apex flat or slightly incm-vcd at the notch. Column with very flesliy rounded
arms. Lindl. Get;, and Sp. Orch. 20; Hook. f. Fl. Br. Ind. v, 686; in Ann. Roy.
Bot. Gard. Calc. vol. v, part 1, t. 3, figures I and 2 (excl. syn. 3Í. biloba)-. King
& Pantl- in /^.nn. Roy. Bot, Gard, Calc, vol. viii, p, 16, plate 18; Collett in FI, Siml.
4.91, fig, 162. Maiaxis ucuminala Don Prod. 29.
Western Himalaya from Pángi to Kumaou between 4,000 and 7,000 feet
becoming moro abundant eastwards, flowering during the rainy season. It extends
eastwards to Sikkim and the Khasia Hills, aná is found also in Ceylon.