Microstylis
(from mikros, small, and stylos, a column; in allusion to the size of the column). SYNS. Achroanthes, Crepidium, Pedilea, Pterochilus. ORD. Orchideae. A genus comprising about forty species of stove terrestrial orchids, natives of Europe, Asia, and North and South America. They are allied to Malaxis, but distinguished from that genus by the lip being at right angles with the column. Flowers small, usually greenish or yellow. Leaves membranaceous or plicate. For culture, see Liparis.
M. calophylla (beautiful-leaved).* fl. yellow; peduncles rather strong, bearing a raceme about 6in. long. l. ovate, yellowish-green, prettily bordered, striped with brown. Pseudo-bulb conical. Indian Archipelago, 1879.
M. chlorophrys (green-leaved). fl. purple, with the ears of the sagittate lip ochre-coloured; racemes few-flowered. l. oblong, acute, greenish above, and light purple beneath. Borneo, 1881.
M. discolor (two-coloured).* fl. yellow, changing to orange, small, on short upright peduncles. l. deep reddish-purple, edged with green, plaited longitudinally, and much crisped at the margin. Ceylon, 1863. This species is characterised as among the most lovely of terrestrial orchids. The flowers, though minute, exhibit great singularity of structure when seen under the microscope. (B. M. 5403.)
M. histionantha (sail-flowered). fl. brownish-green, in a compact concave umbel; sepals reflexed, oblong; petals minute; column short, with obtuse horns. l. two from a broad-ovate or rounded tuber, ovate and membranaceous, with their sheathing bases forming a long tube around the base of the much-angled scape. Columbia. (B. M. 4103.)
M. Josephiana (Sir Joseph Hooker's). fl. yellow, small, disposed in terminal racemes. May. l. broadly ovate, greenish-brown. Pseudo-bulbs oblong. h. 1ft. Sikkim, 1877. (B. M. 6325.)
M. metallica (metallic).* fl., odd sepal yellow, lateral sepals one side rose, the other yellow; petals light rose; peduncle violet, with a long raceme of numerous, rather long-stalked, blossoms. l. oblong-acute, of a light rose underneath, blackish-purple above, with an exquisite metallic lustre. Pseudo-bulbs cylindrical. Borneo, 1879.
M. ventilabrum (large-lipped). fl. yellow, with a large square lip, sagittate at the base, and seven to nine-toothed at top. l. light green, with brownish-tinted veins. Sunda Isles, 1882. A fine species.
M. versicolor (various-coloured). fl. various-coloured. June to October. l. ovate-lanceolate. h. 1ft. China, 1830. (L. B. C. 1751.)