153
Orchidaceae of Hong Kong
175
Petals narrow. Labellum full 4
Sepals ovate-oblong, 4 to 5 lines long. lines long, wavy on the edge, with a terminal transversely oblong dilatation. DISTRIBUTION :-On rocks in ravines behind the town of Victoria, and in a ravine of the Happy Valley, very rare, Champion; also Wright and Hance. Not known out of S. China. (Bentham (2) p. 361).
Our records of this beautiful species show that it is by no means as rare as it was thought to be last century. We have found it in Happy Valley, Hong Kong, and in the New Territories on Ngau-tam-shan near Sheung shui and on Ma-on-shan, It prefers moist shady places in rocky valleys, the rhizomes usually sprawl over the rocks, perhaps being partially covered with a thin layer of leaf mould, and the fleshy roots pentrate between the
rocks.
The local Chinese name is L Shek sheung ngau, meaning Lily root on rocks, the name being given owing to its sprawling habit. It is said to have a medicinal value; dried stems are boiled with pork and eaten as an invigorating tonic. This orchid has recently been described from the Philippines by Ames and Quisumbing (1), p. 372.
COLOUR:-The attractive flowers are pure white, the rhizomes and inflores- cence stem are green tinged with red or pink, the latter may for most of its length be pink. The leaves are beautifully coloured, velvety deep green above with one, two, or three narrow pure white, or white tinged with pink, lines marking the principal veins. The leaf has a very narrow delicate pink margin. The lower surface of the leaf and petiole are a uniform dull red, except in old leaves when they are often bright red.
FLOWERING SEASON :---End of March and the month of April. ILLUSTRATIONS:-Figure 4, whole plant and inset of single flower face view; figure 5, a flowering shoot. Plate 24, figure 1, a flowering shoot about actual
size.
CRYPTOSTYLIS, Robert Brown.
Terrestial herbs, rootstock short, stout, bearing long petioled mem- branous leaves, and leafless flowering scapes; roots of strong fibres; flowers loosely racemed; sepals subequal, narrowly linear, subacute, spreading; petals as narrow, shorter, spreading; lip superior, large, erect, inserted at the base of the column, oblong or lanceolate, entire, base contracted embracing the column; column very small, short, foot o, rostellum broad, thick, acute, notched after detachment of the pollinia; stigma anticous, tumid; anther dorsal, short, broad, 2 celled, pollinia 2, pyriform, granular, sessile on the small gland, pendulous from the rostellum.
(From the account given by Trimen (8) p. 208).
DISTRIBUTION :-Species 7; found in India, Ceylon, Malay Archipelago, South China and Austràlia.
December 1932.