NEOTTEJE£—LISTERID E. 457 
This species is quite distinct from LZ. cordata to which it approaches 
nearest, and is readily known by its thin ovate leaves, very long lip, and 
loosely racemose flowers. 
Listera reniformis (Don prodr. p. 28) is the Aopla reniformis described at 
p. 304; as the learned author has obligingly informed me. 
CCLXIII. NEOTTIA. 
Neottia. Linn. in act. ups. 1740. p. 33. Richard diss. 37. Endlich. gen. no. 1551. parte, 
nec Swartzii, Persoonii, aut Brownii. Neottidium. Schlecht. ft. Berol. LXV. 
Diostomea. Spenner. fl. Friburg. fide Endl. 
Sepala et petala conformia, discolora, patula aut reflexa. Labellum 
liberum, pendulum, oblongum, sepalis longius, basi excavatum, apice 
bilobum. Columna elongata, teres, carnosa, libera; rostello ovato, 
obtuso, labio stigmatis inferiore minore. Clinandrium planum, margine 
carnosum, rard in cucullum aut processum productum. Anthera dorsalis, 
ovata, bilocularis. Pollinia 2, sulcata, pulverea; glandulà nullå ? 
Herbz in radicibus parasitice, aphyllz, radicibus carnosis vermiculari- 
bus, intertextis. Scapus vaginatus. Flores racemosi. 
It seems to me inexpedient to abstract the name Neottia, which signifies 
a nest, from the Bird’s nest Orchis or Nidusavis of the herbalists, to which 
it was originally applied, and to transfer it to the Lady's traces (Spiranthes) 
in which the * Neottious” structure does not exist. No critical rules 
could justify the measure, even if supported by their rigorous application ; 
which is not the case. The fact is that the word was first used by Lin- 
neus in the Upsal Transactions for 1740, when he applied it to ^ genus 
consisting of Spiranthes estivalis and Neottia Nidus avis. The word itself, 
therefore, if it is worth discussing verbal niceties in such a question, is at 
least as applicable to the plant for which I retain it, in common with a 
few other botanists, as it is to Spiranthes. 
With regard to the genera Neottia and Listera, I confess there is nothing 
that can be pointed out as a satisfactory distinctive mark except their 
habit ; and therefore the latter genus would have to be suppressed if the 
structure of the flowers is to be alone insisted upon. But the habit of 
these plants is so totally dissimilar that I think it would be unwise to 
unite them. Reliance has been placed indeed upon a character for sepa- 
rating Listera from Neottia, which, at first sight, seems more important 
than it really is. Listera has a cucullate anther-bed and Neottia a flat one, 
and when L. ovata is compared with N. Nidus Avis and listeroides this differ- 
ence becomes very striking ; but L. cordata, and some of the other small 
species, has the borders of the anther-bed scarcely at all elevated, and 
N. kamtchatica, with the habit of Nidus avis has the anther-bed of L. ovata. 
The elongation of the column is not more uniform ; for although it dis- 
tinctly occurs in all the Neottias, yet the column approaches that condition 
in Listera Banksiana, and in L. convallarioides is as long in proportion as 
that of Neottia Nidus Avis. 
September, 1840. 000 
