Page:Manual of the New Zealand Flora.djvu/730

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690
ORCHIDEÆ.
[Chiloglottis.

1. C. cornuta, Hook. f. Fl. Antarct. i. 69.—Usually rather stout, perfectly glabrous, 2–5 in. high. Leaves 2, close together, petiolate, spreading, 1–3 in. long, ½–1 in. broad, oblong or linear-oblong or oblong-lanceolate, acute or subacute, flat, rather fleshy when fresh; veins parallel, connected by transverse veinlets. Scape very short at first, but lengthening as the flower withers and sometimes 4–8 in. long in fruit, 1-flowered or very rarely 2-flowered; bract sheathing. Flower about ½ in. diam., green, sometimes spotted with purple. Upper sepal broadly ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, erect. Lateral sepals placed in front of the lip, linear-lanceolate. Petals ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, erect. Lip triangular-cordate or trowel-shaped, acute, concave; disc with 3 large stalked rounded calli near the base, 2 linear ones on each side higher up, and 3 smaller rounded ones between them. Column curved forwards, winged; the wings expanded above and produced upwards into 2 lobes exceeding the anther.—Handb. N.Z. Fl. 269.

North and South Islands, Chatham Islands, Stewart Island, Antipodes Island, Auckland and Campbell Islands: Moist shaded places from Kaitaia and Mongonui southwards, not common. Sea-level to 3000 ft. October–December.

The calli on the labellum probably vary in number and shape, judging from Hooker's description in "Flora Antarctica."


2. C. formicifera, Fitzgerald, Austral. Orch. i. 3 (1877).—Slender, delicate, 2–3 in. high. Leaves 2, close together, sessile, spreading, 1–2 in. long, linear-oblong or oblong-lanceolate, obtuse, thin and membranous, margins often undulate when fresh; veins parallel, connected by transverse veinlets. Scape 2–3 in. high, 1-flowered; bract near the top, sheathing. Flower about ½ in. long. Upper sepal linear-spathulate, erect, acuminate; lateral about the same length, linear, acuminate. Petals linear-lanceolate, abruptly deflexed, about as long as the sepals. Lip horizontal or ascending, contracted below into a long and narrow claw, above suddenly expanded into a short and broad spoon-shaped or rhomboid lamina, the tip of which is usually reflexed; disc with numerous calli, the largest of which is placed at the base, and projects from it, with a kind of double head, towards the column; in front of this is a large flat heart-shaped gland, and rows of smaller calli reach the apex of the lip. Column arched forward, broadly winged.—Cheesem. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxxiii. (1901) 312.

North Island: Auckland—Kaitaia (Mongonui County), R. H. Matthews! September–October.

A very remarkable little plant, previously known only from eastern Australia. Mr. Matthews's specimens agree in all respects with Mr. Fitzgerald's beautiful plate.