CLASS GYNANDRIA. 181 



or 4 anthers ; thus making as near an approach to 6, 

 as the Convallaria bifolia, in which all the parts of 

 the flower are diminished to 4, though inseparable, in 

 other respects, from the rest of the Convallaria's in 

 which the parts are by 6's. Thus amidst aberrations 

 so obscure, and variations so intricate from the origin- 

 al plan or type of vegetable families, still the lights of 

 analogy, by furnishing, as it were, links of connexion, 

 lead, at length, to a real affinity of objects ; and we 

 are satisfied, that though the Orchideje form a most 

 distinct and natural family among themselves, they 

 have still an unalienable relation with the great lilia- 

 ceous tribe of the same monocotyledonous class. 



The artificial orders of our class Gynandria, which 

 includes a few other genera besides the Orchideje, 

 are again founded on the number of the stamens, and 

 in Monandrin we find, first, the genus 



Orchis, of which our mossy swamps and very sha- 

 dy woods afford no inconsiderable variety, flowering; 

 about midsummer and the commencement of autumn. 

 The corolla isringent, the upper petals forming a vault 

 or helmet. The lip is dilated (or widened), having 

 a spur beneath. The pollinia (or masses of pollen, as 

 there are no true anthers) are 2- in number, and will 

 be found concealed within the lateral sacs, or hooded 

 hollows of the stigma. The earliest flowering species, 

 not uncommon in the middle states, is the O. spectabi- 

 lis, which has an obovate, undivided, crenate, blunt 

 lip (generally purple or rather lilac), and finely con- 

 trasted with the other straight and white petals. The 

 spur is clavate (or club-shaped), and shorter than the 

 germ ; the bractes are longer than the flower ; and the 

 stem leafless ; 2 or 3 large leaves, however, are situ- 

 ated at the base of the stem. The O. ciliaris of our 

 swamps flowering in August, has an oblong, lanceolate, 

 pinnatelv ciliate (or fringed) lip, twice as long as the 

 16 



