The great asaislanco afforjed uje by the drawings, and tlieir- iiiauifeat superiority tu
descriptions, however exact and complete, (or the identification of plants lolongiiig to this
most difficnlt Order, suggested the desirability oi having a selection of them published for
t h e use of scientific botanists and cultirators of orchids. To this end I offered, should
my suggestion meet with Dr. Kiirg's approval, my services in selecting a century of them
for publication in the "Annals of the Calcutta Garden," adding fuller (and often amended)
descriptions and observations on the species figured than could be given in the limited space
devoted to the orchids in " The Flora of British India." Dr. King's cordial approval
gratified me much, and this Part of the Annals is the result.
1 should call attention to the fact that, excellent as the drawings are iu many
respects, as representatives of the plants pourtrayed, they err in manifesting that
tendency to enlarge, which is a besetting sin of Indian botanical artists; and that
t h e analyses leave much to be desired in the matter of proportion and accuracy. Of
these defects the first is irremediable; the others I have in many instances endeavoured
to certify or to cheek, by adding analyses of my own. In no case do these defects
appear to nie to detract materially from the value of the illustrations as a means of
i d e n t i f y i n g the plants represented.
I t remains to add that the drawings here reproduced were the work of many
native ai-tists of various skill and attainments, subsequent to the series cemmcnced by
Dr. Eoxbm-gh ; that they date from the period of Dr. Wallich's snperintendency of
t h e Hoyal Gardens ; and that the artists' name being rarely recorded, the inscription at
t h e left hand lower corner of each plate should read " Lithograpiied by " and that on
t h e corresponding right hand corner "Printed by." Exact copies of the whole Calcutta
collection of drawings of Indian orchids hove been, with Dr. King's permission, made
under my supervision for Kew, and are deposited in the Herbarium of that establishment,
the cost having been defrayed by the Trustees of the Bentham Fund.
J . D. HOOKER.
Bmip, SumiTU/iah, Ocíobir 1892.
A CENTURY OP INDIAJSr OECHIDS
SL-r JOSBPB: D J I L T O N S O O N E R .
P L A T E 1.
OBEKONIA ORBICULARIS, nook, f.
0. orhicuhm; foliis ensiformibus sensim acuminatis, scapo crasso foliáceo vel folio
confluente, spica elongata cylindracoa sensim longg attenuata densiflora, floribus subsessilibus
rachi crassa quasi applanatis aurantiacis, ovario brevissimo, bracteis late ovatis orbiculatisve
erosis, sepalis petalisqne ovatis obtusis integerrimis, labello orbieulato concavo sepalis
majore integen-imo vel crenulato apicem versus obscure 3-lobo v. emarginato. Hook. /.
FL Brit. Ind. V. CTT.
ITAB.—SIKKIM-HIMALAYA ; at Dikkeeling, alt. about 4,0Ú0 ft., Clarke. KHASIA HILLS
Gibson.
Stau veiy short, densely tafted, flat. Letim 4—6 in. long by l — | in. broad towards the
base, gradually narrowed from the base to the tip, dai-k green. Spike sessile on the top of
a fiat, truncate, leaf-like scape, or inserted at the margin or top of a leaf, being in fact
wholly or in part confiuent with a leaf, in. long by J- in. diam., terete, very gradually
narrowed from the base to the filiform tip. Floaen minate, pressed down on the broad
membranous erose bracts, dull orange yellow, with the lip darker and deeper coloured.
Very closely allied to 0. padnjraehà, Iteiohb. f. Mss. (Fl. Brit. Ind. v. 681), wMcli has tiro sme
disposition of tba leaves and spike, aud minute sessüe flowers crowded on the thiek terete raehis, and
nearly the inme sepak and lip; but in that plmt the braots are shorter and broader and the petals are
very narrow. As, however, both pkuts iubabit tbe Eastern Himalaya and Eliasia Hills, tbey may
prove forms of one specics.
The drawing of 0. orUcukri, was made at tbe Calcutta Garden from specimens sent by Mr. ffibson
a oolleclor for the Duke of Devonshire, from tile Khasia HiUs, to Dr. Wafficb in 1S36. It bcara the
manuscript name of 0. plajlhMs!, in WaUitb's band-writing, a siguiicant name wbiob I should bave
retained bad I known o£ it wben describing the genus Oberonia lor tbe Flora of British India.
F¡)¡:. 1, Jiortion of spite ; 2, W t ; 3, front and 4, back view of flower ;
áispkcoc!; 6, ovary, colulun and anther; 7, all enlarged. B. floiver wilb periantk-segmcnls
P L A T E 2.
MicEOSTYLia WALLICHII, Lindl.
M. Wallichii- foliis 2 - 4 sessilibus petiolatisve elliptice-vel ovato-lanceolatis acuminatis
rnargrnibns siepius nndulatis, scapo acute angrjato, racemo multifloro, bracteis ovario
brcvroribus patentibus vei rcfleris, labelli lamina apice rotundata v. emarginata, auiiculis
AKX, HOT, BOT. GARU. CALC., YOL. V.