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change into lanceolate bracteae. Flowers few, (3) in a terminal
spike, very large & singular in their appearance. The petals
all of a greenish colour, beautifully striated with a deeper
line, their extremities & margins white. Upper segment erect,
oblong, obtuse, 2" long the margin entire & even; the 2 interior
ones are a little shorter, obovate, sinuated & plaited at the margin,
the 2 lateral, or rather lowermost ones 3" long, spathulate, of
a bluer green in the inside, the broad extremity. remarkably
plaited at the margin, while its surface is studded with many
roundish or linear white papillae, tipped with green. The labellum
is scarcely so long as these, reflexed, broadly oblong. the sides
curved upwards, waved & plaited, especially at the extremity
where the surface is papillose as in the petals just
described; at the base it is suddenly contracted into a short, white
claw, having an orange spot at the base & the inner surface for more
half the length is, in the middle, furnished with about 6 vertical
green plates or lamellae, of which the extremiteis are free, sharp &
curved a little upwards. Germen angular, thickened upwards. Column
linear, oblong, decurved, semicylindraceous, with orange-coloured, marked
with 2 depressed longitudinal lines, the base dilated, deep red, & marked with a
tooth on each side. upwards in the front is the subquadrate, depressed, green,
stigma, terminated by a short bifid lip, the back of the column is green,
& within the summit of it, which forms an imperfect upperlip, is situated
the ovato-acuminate, [crossed out: curved pollen masses] green anther-case
Cells 2. yellow, opening with a longitudinal fissure, & containing
each 2 linear-acuminate curved pollen-masses, yellow, &
farinaceous indeed on the outside, but within evidently
formed of elastically cohering granules.
Bot. Mag. t.2956.