A STROLL THROUGH A BEECH 'WOOD. 116 



it has two or three large leaves below, very shining underneath, and a few 

 smaller on the stalk, which grows about a foot and a half high. I shall 

 not easily forget the delight T experienced the first time my eyes rested on 

 this plant; and when I found I might possess hundreds of specimens, I 

 became rather greedy, and I did not leave the wood till I had gathered 

 baskets full, the fragrance and beauty of which afforded me great delight for 

 many days. The blossom, when fully expanded, certainly resembles a but- 

 terfly; others are like bees, flies, spiders, etc., and some found abroad are 

 likewise compared to doves, eagles, snakes, lizards, and frogs; the colours, 

 spots, and stripes on the large lip, often have the appearance of the skins 

 of leopards and tigers. The properties of the family are mucilaginous, aromatic, 

 or antispasmodic, and tonic, varying in the different genera. Salep, used as an 

 article of food for invalids, is derived from several species of Orchis, and 

 generally brought from Turkey, where it is called Sahleh. Vanilla also used 

 in confectionery, and in flavouring chocolate, and perfuming snufi", is derived 

 from the fruit of several species of the Vanilla genus. 



Here is a treasure indeed, a single specimen of the Fly Orchis, {Ophys 

 muscifera.) This is the first time I have met with it in this locality, though 

 it is abundant in the eastern counties, also in Surrey and Kent. The flower 

 is indeed very curious; the genus differs from the Orchis in having no spur; 

 the narrow lip which has only two lobes at the extrenaity, is coloured with 

 a broad pale bluish spot in the centre; the side petals are quite slender, 

 and with the lip are of a blackish purple; their slender form causes them 

 to look like the antennse of the insect. We may still add another lovely 

 Orchidaceous plant to our collection, this is the White Helleborine, {Epipadis 

 grajidiflora.) It is scarcely yet fully expanded, but you see there is promise 

 of great profusion in a short time. However from this specimen, more open 

 than the rest, we may remark its peculiarities and beauties; the whole flower 

 is a lovely white, the lip very concave at the base, three-lobed and yellow 

 within, the bracts are longer than the flower, the leaves are oblong and 

 sessile, and the whole plant is about a foot and a half high. The Epipactis 

 latifolia, I have found here in July and August; it has a more drooping 

 spike of flowers; they are not white, and much less conspicuous, being of a 

 purplish green. 



We must not overlook the curious Herb Paris, (Paris quadrifolia,) and 

 here we may gather as many as we please. You are aware that the plant 

 derives its name from the word pars — a part, on account of the division of all 

 its parts into four; the calyx is divided into four, the petals are four, the 

 berry is four-celled, and in general there are but four leaves, though in this 

 wood I have found specimens with five, six, and even seven leaves; here is 

 one with the latter number, and you see those with five are quite common, 

 It belongs to the family Trilliacece, the plants of which are either acrid or 

 narcotic: Paris has the latter property. Here too we find the Solomon's 

 Seal, (Convallaria multiflora.) What an elegant plant it is! with its arched 



