GENUS 3. 



ORCHID FAMILY. 



55 



About 80 species, natives of the north temperate zone. Only the following is known in North 

 America. Type species : Orchis militaris L. 



i. Orchis rotundifolia Pursh. Small Round- 

 leaved Orchis. Fig. 1360. 



Orchis spectabilis Pursh, Fl. Am. Sept. 588. 1814. Not L. 

 Platanthera rotundifolia Lindl. Gen. & Sp. Orch. 292. 1835. 



Stem slender, 8'-io' high, i-leaved near the base. 

 Leaf varying from nearly orbicular to oval, ii'~3' 

 long, I '-2' wide, with I or 2 sheathing scales below it; 

 spike 2-6-flowered ; flowers 6"-8" long, subtended by 

 small bracts ; lateral sepals spreading, sometimes longer 

 than the petals; sepals and petals oval, rose-color; lip 

 white, purple spotted, longer than the petals, 3-lobed, 

 the middle lobe larger, dilated, 2-lobed or notched at 

 the apex ; spur slender, shorter than or about equalling 

 the lip. 



In damp woods, Greenland to the Rocky Mountains, 

 Maine, New York and Wisconsin. June-July. 



4. GALEORCHIS 'Rydb. in Britton, Man. 292. 1901. 



Rootstock short, with numerous fleshy roots. Stem scape-like, with 2 large leaves at the 

 base. Flowers in a short loose spike, subtended by large bracts. Sepals united above, form- 

 ing a hood. Petals connivent, somewhat adnate to the sepals. Lip wavy, produced into a 

 spur. Column short, scarcely extending beyond the base of the lip. Anther 2-celled, its 

 sacs divergent; pollinia granulose, i large mass in each sac, with a slender caudicle. Glands 

 enclosed in a pouch. [Greek, referring to the hood-like united sepals.]. 



A monotypic genus of North America. 



i. Galeorchis spectabilis (L.) Rydb. Showy Orchis. Fig. 1361. 



Orchis spectabilis L. Sp. PL 943. 1753. 



Galeorchis spectabilis Rydb. in Britton, Man. 292. 1901. 



Stems 4'-: 2' high, thick, fleshy, 5-angled. Leaves 

 2, near the base of the stem, with i or 2 scales 

 below them, obovate, sometimes 8' long and 4' wide, 

 but usually smaller, clammy to the touch ; spike 

 3-6-flowered; flowers about i' long, violet-purple 

 mixed with lighter purple and white ; bracts f olia- 

 ceous, sheathing the ovaries; sepals united in an 

 arching galea ; petals connivent under the sepals, 

 more or less attached to them ; lip whitish, diver- 

 gent, entire, about as long as the petals ; spur ob- 

 tuse, about 8" long; column violet on the back; 

 capsule about i' long, strongly angled. 



In rich woods, New Brunswick to Ontario, Dakota, 

 Georgia, Kentucky, Missouri and Nebraska. Ascends to 

 4000 ft. in Virginia. Purple, gay- or spring-orchis. 

 April-June. 



5. PERULARIA Lindl. Bot. Reg. 20: under pi. i/oi. 1835. 



Leafy-stemmed plants, from a cluster of thick fibrous roots. Flowers small, greenish, 

 in a long open spike with long bracts. Sepals and petals broad, spreading. Lip lanceolate, 

 with a tooth on each side and a tubercle at the middle of the base or nearly orbicular. Spur 

 slender, straight, longer than the lip, but shorter than the ovary. Valves of the anthers 

 horizontal, opening upward, dilated at the base so as to form an oblong cavity, enclosing the 

 orbicular incurved gland. Pollinia granulose, produced at the base into a caudicle. [Latin, 

 a little wallet.] 



About 4 species, of the north temperate zone. Besides the following, another occurs in the 

 southeastern States. 



