CIRRHOPETALUM

Lindl.

Habit and characters of Bulbophyllum , but here distinguished by the more often and more regularly whorled flowers , and by the short dorsal sepal , rarely half the length of the almost invariably much longer lateral . Lip very small and stipitate in all the species.-Species 30 or more , chiefly Indian and Malayan.

The species of Bulbophyllum and Cirrhopetalum are in many cases so allied by cross affinities , that the two genera might well be regarded as one. My keeping them apart is due to the consideration of convenience , and the fact that all my attempts to commingle the species of both have resulted in a chaotic aggregate , with most unsatisfactory sectional characters ; in fact , a far less natural result than the keeping them apart. The species of this genus are far the most difficult of the two , as regards analysis from dried specimens ., on account of the delicacy of thelateral sepals alter greatly during development . Cirrhopetalum viridiflorum and Blepharistes have the longer dorsal sepal of Bulbophyllum.

A. Flowers solitary (Occasionally solitary in imperfectly developed species of other groups ).