274 -A CRITICAL REVISION OF R. D. FITZGERALD'S 'AUSTRALIAN ORCHIDS". By the Rev. H. M. R. Rupp, B.A. [Read 29th November, 1944.] Nothing can ever detract from the high merit of Fitzgerald's great work, in which, during the last quarter of the nineteenth century, he depicted in colour, and with a wealth of intricate detail, approximately two hundred species of Australian Orchidaceae. This number is considerably increased if we include his unpublished plates now in the possession of the Mitchell Library at Sydney; but the present paper is concerned only with those which were actually published and placed on sale or otherwise distributed, by authority of the Government of New South Wales. Fitzgerald died in 1892; and in the fifty-two years which have passed since then, the study of Australian orchids has made great progress. Considering his limited facilities for reference, his difficulties in the matter of transport of material, and other disadvantages under which he laboured, it was inevitable that Fitzgerald should occa-sionally have been mistaken in his interpretations of species: indeed, the fact that he made so few mistakes is a great tribute to the accuracy of his botanical insight. Never-theless, some mistakes were made. Moreover, since his time, the nomenclature of many of the orchids which he depicted has changed — sometimes in obedience to the international rule of priority, sometimes by reason of additional knowledge which has been won concerning the affinities between various species. It seems to the present writer that the time has come when it is most desirable to publish a review of Fitzgerald's work, which shall embody (a) necessary alterations in the nomenclature, (&) necessary corrections where it is recognized beyond reasonable doubt that Fitzgerald's interpretation of a species was mistaken, and (c) any further comments likely to assist in clearing up difficulties encountered by field workers who refer to "Australian Orchids" for the determination of specimens they have collected. (a). Alterations in Nomenclature. The simplest way to present these is to tabulate them, giving in one column the names adopted by Fitzgerald, together with a reference to the Volume and Part in which each occurs, and in a parallel column giving the corresponding names now accepted as valid. Fitzgerald did not follow any recognized order in the publication of his species; but it is thought best here to adopt the order used by the writer in his "Orchids of New South Wales" (National Herbarium of N.S.W., 1943), which in the main, with a few necessary modifications, follows Pfitzer's arrangement. Fitzgerald's Nomenclature. Tlielymitra megcalyptra Fitzg. (I, 5.) Tlielymitra luteocilium Fitzg. (II, 1.) Diuris elongata R.Br. (I, 4.) Diuris spathulata Fitzg. (II, 4.) Microtis porrifolia Spreng. (II, 1.) Chiloglottis diphylla R.Br. (II, 2.) Chiloglottis Gunii Lindl. (II, 2.) Cyrtostylis R.Br. (I, 4.) Cyrtostylis reniformis R.Br. (I, 4.) Eriochilus autumnalis R.Br. (II, 2.) Lyperanthus ellipticus R.Br. (I, 1.) Corysanthes R.Br. (I, 1.) Corysanthes fimbriata R.Br. (I, 1.) Corysanthes pruinosa Cunn. (I, 1.) Corysanthes bicalcarata R.Br. (I, 2.) Present Nomenclature. T. aristata var. megcalyptra (Fitzg.) Nicholls. T. luteociliata Fitzg. D. punctata Sm. D. striata Rupp. M. unifolia (Forst.) Reichb. f. C. reflexa (Labill.) Druce. C. Gunnii Lindl. Genus now absorbed into Acianthus. Acianthus reniformis (R.Br.) Schltr. E. cucullatus (Labill.) Reichb. f. Rimacola elliptica (R.Br.) Rupp. Corybas Salisb. Corybas fimbriatus (R.Br.) Reichb. f. Corybas pruinosus (Cunn.) Reichb. f. Corybas aconitiflorus Salisb.
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