3^2- The Ohio Naturalist. [Vol. X, No. 2, 



Gyrostachys Pers. 



Erect herbs with fleshy fibrous or tuberous roots and slender 

 stems or scapes, leafy below or at the base; flowers small, spur- 

 less, spiked, 1-3 rowed, the spikes more or less twisted; the lip 

 sessile or clawed, concave, erect, embracing the column and often 

 adhering to it, bearing minute callosities at the base. 



1. Flowers apparently in several ranks, stems not twisted, or but slightly 

 so ' 2 



Flowers merely alternate, often secund from the spiral twisting of 

 the stem 4 



Sepals and petals more or less connivent into a hood, leaves linear or 

 linear-lanceolate G. stricta 



Lateral sepals separate, free o 



Spike short, about 2 in. or less; leaves rather broad, oblong-lanceolate; 

 callosities none, or mere thickenings of the basal margins of the 

 lip G. plantaginea 



3. Spike long, 3-6 in.; leaves linear to linear-oblanceolate; callosities of 



the lip nipple-shaped G. cernua 



4. Stem leafy lower leaves elongated, outer sepals lanceolate. .G. praecox 



4. Stem with scaly bracts, leaves if present basal o 



5. Root a single tuber; spike aliout 1-1 J/^ in. long G. simplex 



0. Root usually a cluster of tubers; sj)ike 1-3 in. long G. gracilis 



1. Gyrostachys stricta Rydb. Hooded Lady's-tresses. Stem 



6-14 in. high, leafy below, bracted above; leaves 2^4-8 in. 

 long, linear; flowers in a spike 2-4 in. long, spreading hori- 

 zontally; lip oblong, crisped at apex, thin and transparent. 

 A bare looking plant, with a loose spike of fragrant flowers, 

 growing in bogs. Ashtabula County. 



2. Gyrostachys plantaginea (Raf.) Britt. Wide-leaf Lady's- 



tresses. vStem 4-10 in. high, glabrous or pubescent, 

 bearing 4 or 5 lanceolate or oblanceolate leaves below; 

 leaves 1—5 in. long; flowers in a thick, dense spike, 1—2 in. 

 long, 4-6 lines thick; flowers spreading, white; lip, pale 

 yellow on the face, oblong, the wavy apex rounded, crispate 

 or fringed, 'the base short-clawed. A small plant with basal 

 leaves, growing on moist banks and in woods, Medina and 

 Portage Counties. 



3. Gyrostachys cernua (L.) Ktz. Nodding Lady's-tresses. Stem 



8-24 in. high (rarely higher), usually pubescent above, 

 bearing 2-6 bract-like stem leaves ; basal leaves from linear- 

 oblanceolate to linear, 2^4-12)^ in. long, the blade narrow; 

 flowers in a thick spike, 4-43^ in. long, 5-6 lines thick; 

 flowers white, nodding or spreading, about 5 lines long; lip 

 oblong or ovate, the apex rounded and crisped. A tall 

 showy plant w4th nodding, fragrant flowers, growing in 

 meadows and swamps. Erie, Lorain, Cuyahoga, Medina, 

 Portage, Stark, Lake, Licking, Fulton, Clermont and 

 Gallia Counties. 



4. Gyrostachys praecox (Walt.) Ktz. Grass-leaf Lady's-tresses. 



Stem, lU-24 in. high, leafy; leaves linear, 4-12 in. long, with 

 narrow grass-like blades and long sheathing petioles, per- 



