NOTES ON PHILIPPINE ORCHIDS

BY

OAKES AMES

Renanthera elongata Lindley, Gen. & Sp. Orch. Pl. (1833) 218.

Renanthera matutina Lindley in Bot. Reg. 29 (1843) t. 41, non Lindl. Gen. & Sp. Orch. Pl.

Renanthera micrantha Blume, Rumphia 4 (1848) 60.

In Ames Orchidaceae 5 (1915) 224, Renanthera elongata Lindl. was cited as a native of the Philippines on the authority of Lindley who referred to specimens collected by Cuming. At that time no material from the Philippines had been seen. In Merrill's Enumeration of Philippine Flowering Plants 1, fasc. 4 (1925) 428, Renanthera elongata was excluded from the flora, as after twenty years of intensive exploration no material had been observed.

Recently (December 1933), there has been received from Mrs. K. B. Day fragmentary material of a Renanthera collected on a small island off Mindanao. This material agrees essentially with the plant illustrated in the Botanical Register loc. cit., erroneously referred to the Javan R. matutina Lindl., and may be taken as evidence that Renanthera elongata Lindl. is a native of the Philippines.

Podochilus lucescens Blume, Bijdr. (1825) 295.

In Merrill's Enumeration of Philippine Flowering Plants 1, fasc. 3 (1924) 322, this species was referred to synonomy under P. strictus Ames on the understanding that the Philippine material originally referred to P. lucescens in Ames Orchidaceae 5 (1915) 90 had been erroneously determined.

Recent studies of this material indicate that it is distinct for P. strictus and conspecific with P. lucescens.

The following collections have been examined and referred to P. lucescens.

LUZON, Tayabas, Bur. Sci. 1255, 20704: Camarines, Bur. Sci. 6371: Camarines Sur, Bur. Sci. 76466.

SAMAR, Bur. Sci. 17543.

NEGROS, Bur. Sci. 1137.

PANAY, Bur. Sci. 31332, 35346, 35376, 35601.

LEYTE, Wenzel 0253, 258a, 420, 0489, 0491, 0536, 0539.

MINDANAO, Bur. Sci. 36746.

TAWI TAWI, Bur. Sci. 44255.

WHILE COMPARING some orchids in the Gray Herbarium the authors noticed three specimens which resembled small vines. On careful study they proved to be three new species of Lepanthes, although one of them was originally labelled L. Nummularia by mistake. The work of comparing the three species with material or descriptions of all previously known species of Lepanthes was greatly facilitated by reference to the herbarium of Professor Oakes Ames, to whom the authors are further indebted for the invitation to publish in this series. The three new species may be characterized as follows:

Lepanthes pseudocaulescens Smith & Harris, sp. nov. Herba minuta. Rhizoma repens, cauliforme. Caules perbreves, monophylli, vaginis infundibuliformibus omnino tecti. Folia suborbicularia, 3.5–5 mm. longa, setoso-ciliata. Pedunculus uni-vel bi-florus. Sepala ovata, acuta; lateralia circiter per partem tertiam connata. Petala in lobos elongatissime triangulares transverse extensa. Labellum late lunatum, retusum, auriculis lateralibus reflexis.

Plant minute, doubtless epiphytic, its symmetry strongly dorsi-ventral. Rhizome creeping, stem-like,5-12 cm. long, filiform, simple or sparingly branched, bearing

infundibuliform sheaths with setose-ciliate mouths. Leaf solitary at the summit of the very short stem, suborbicular, entire, 3.5–5 mm. long, abruptly narrowed at base into the short petiole, 3-nerved, setose-ciliate, apparently fleshy in living material. Peduncle shorter than the leaf, solitary, 1- to 2-flowered, almost completely concealed by the vaginiform setose bracts. Flowers small, glabrous, dark red in the dried specimens. Lateral sepals ovate, acute, 3 mm. long, 3-nerved, connate for about one-third their length. Dorsal sepal similar but broader. Petals 0.5 mm. long, 4 mm. wide, transversely extended into two equal narrowly triangular acuminate lobes. Labellum broadly lunate, 3-nerved, retuse, its lateral auricles reflexed. Column slenderly cylindric. Anther terminal.

COLOMBIA, forests of the highlands of Popayan, altitude 17001800 m., July 1901, Lehmann no. B. T. 352. (TYPE in Gray Herb. Duplicate type in Herb. Ames).

ILLUSTRATION: 1, plant drawn natural size. 2, section of rhizome with leaves (X5). 3, flower (×10). 4, labellum, as seen from above (X10). 5, column, as seen from the side (X10).

Lepanthes polygonoides Smith & Harris, sp. nov. Habitus illum L. pseudocaulescentis simulans. Folia elliptica vel ovato-elliptica, 6-11 mm. longa, utrinque glaberrima. Pedunculus uni-vel bi-florus. Sepala elliptica, late acuta; lateralia circiter per duas tertias connata. Petala minuta, rhomboidea, margine minutissime ciliata. Labellum minutissimum, columna omnino obtectum, late ovatum.

Rhizome creeping, stem-like, 25–40 cm. long, simple or sparingly branched, bearing infundibuliform sheaths with setose-ciliate mouths. Leaf solitary at the summit of the very short stem, elliptic or ovate-elliptic, entire, 6-11 mm. long, 5-nerved with all five nerves starting within the sheath and continuing nearly to the apex, en