A New Species of Listera (Orchidaceae) from Asia

Terrestrial herb, root-stock perennial, creeping, sympodial, with fleshy roots and stem-sheaths of the previous season, producing an annual erect shoot, 30-60 cm tall from a lateral bud. Aerial stem with two basal sheaths, the lower split open and the upper tubular, enclosing the stem up to 3 to 6 cm from the root-stock. Stem smooth, glabrous and longitudinally ribbed, 13-27 cm long, 2-4 mm thick, below the single pair of leaves. Leaves sessile, orbicular-ovate, slightly longer than broad (5-7'5 cm x 4-5'5 cm), membranous, upper surface pale green to greyish-brown, lower surface glaucous green, shining, glabrous, margin entire or undulate, nerves 7-8, prominently raised and grooved on the lower surface for more than half their length. Peduncle and raceme 13-21 cm long, densely covered with glandular hairs; flowers 12-14. Flowers bracteate, solitary, the first flower of the raceme arising 4-7'5 cm above the leaves; one or two basal bracts sterile; bracts ovate-orbicular, acute, I-nerved, 3-7 mm long, 0.5-3 mm broad, shorter than the pedicel, concave, convolute at base, minutely glandular; pedicel 4-6 mm long; flowers green, 9-12 mm long. Sepals 3, subequal, membranous with a greenish midrib, dorsal sepal 5 mm long, 1-2 mm broad. Petals linearoblanceolate, 4 mm long, shorter than the sepals; lip adnate to the base of the column, 9-12 mm long, 7-I I mm broad, about twice as long as the sepals, obovate-spathulate, narrowed to the base, flat, apex deeply two lobed; upper surface with a relatively broad indistinct keel from the base terminating in a short 'mucro' in the sinus, nerves on either side of the keel once or twice dichotomously branched. Column short, stout and broad, I -5-2 mm long; rostellum short and obtuse. Pollinia yellowish. Ovary 3-4 mm long, obconical, glandular. Capsule not seen. (Fig. I.)