Its  flower-stem  rises  from  the  base  of  the
pseudobulbs,  and  attains  a  hei^t  of  from
four  to  six  feet;  its  upper  portion,  for  about
a  third  of  its  length,  being  occupied  by  a
spike  of  almost  globose  very  sweet-scented
flowers,  each  about  an  inch  and  a  half
across,  and  of  a  creamy-white,  with  little
lilac  specks  on  the  base  of  the  Up.  CA.  S.]

PERISTOME.  When  the  lid  breaks  off
from  the  capsule  of  a  moss,  the  edge  of
the  cup  is  either  naked,  or  Is  fringed  with
one  or  more  whorls  of  variously  fashioned
teeth  (the  peristome),  the  outer  of  which  is
continuous  with  the  inner  layer  of  cells
constituting  the  wall  of  the  capsule,  which
is  separated  from  the  spore-cyst  by  a  cavity
traversed  by  a  few  articulated  threads— the
inner  from  the  outer  layer  of  cells  in  the
spore-cyst.  The  tissues  of  this  latter  gene-
rate the  spores,  leaving  mostly  a  barren
cylinder  In  the  centre,  which  is  called  the
columella.  The  teeth  consist  of  one  or
more  teyers  of  cells,  and  are  mostly  trans-
versely articulate,  and  often  striate  longi-
tudinally. They  are  usually  definite  In
number,  being  four  or  multiples  of  four.
