^^\^g^ Pescott, Reproduclion of Terrestrial Orchids. 163 



inches. The extreme length so far noted was in Pterostylis 

 pedunculiita, one plant of which had a lateral root eleven inches 

 in length. 



In 1915 I planted three pots with tubers of Pterostylis nutans ; 

 the pots contained 10, 12, and 13 tubers respectively. When 

 the foliage had died down after the flowering season, the 

 flowers all having been cut to prevent seed-production, the 

 tubers numbered 18, 29, and 26 in the pots. Thus in one 

 season 35 tubers had increased to 63 tubers — that is, there were 

 28 additional tubers and the 35 parent tubers as well. In 

 nature the increase of this species is often more numerous than 

 this. In 1914 fourteen tubers of Pterostylis concinna were 

 planted in a pot. Five only produced flowers in July, the 

 flowers again being removed. In the following May, 1915, 

 33 plants had appeared, giving an increase of 19 tubers, in 

 addition to the replacing of the 14 parent tubers. If further 

 proof be needed : in 1915 I collected a small four-leaved plant 

 of Pterostylis nutans, with variegated foliage. It was evidently, 

 from its size, a juvenile tuber, and, of course, was a " bud 

 variation," or " sport." In 1916 the plant again grew strongly, 

 producing nine or ten leaves, variegated as before, but no 

 flower. In 1917 two plants, both with variegated foliage, 

 appeared, the parent plant flowering, the additional plant 

 having been produced from a juvenile tuber. 



In the first group of Pterostylis the roots are usually long. 

 This group consists of species that are lovers of cool, moist, 

 or shady locations, and includes such species as P. nutans, P. 

 concinna, P. curta, P. peduncidata, P. pedoglossa, P. nana, 

 P. aipina, P. falcata, P. reflexa, and others. 



Group 2. — ^This group may be classed as belonging to stiff 

 clay soils or to hot, open, and dry situations. In these species 

 the filamentous roots are quite absent, their place being taken 

 by stout fleshy roots, often not more than a quarter of an inch 

 in length, so that the juvenile tubers are formed quite close 

 to the parent tuber, and, when fully developed at the end of 

 the growing season, all of the tubers are found in a compact 

 mass together. So closely packed are they that sometimes 

 the tubers will be flattened and distorted by the pressure of 

 one against the other. Included in this group are P. vittata, 

 P. barbata, and P. tongifolia. The shortness of the lateral roots 

 explains the occurrence of the separate rosette of foliage, often 

 found gro^^ing right alongside the flowering plant of one of 

 these species. This rosette of foliage is the growth from the 

 juvenile tuber, which, in all species, rarely produces a flower 

 in the first year of its existence. Indeed, it is frequently not 

 until the third year that the juvenile tubers perfect their 



