1885.] NOTES ON BRITISH ORCHIDS. 365 



" Three Brothers," " the skeleton of one of which yet remaineth 

 about thirteen yards in circumference a considerable way from the 

 root." Firewood seems to have been a useful and highly-prized 

 article in this forest, for " John de Ueteripont gave to the I'riory of 

 Wetheral for the health of the soul of himself, and of Sibil his 

 wife, twenty cartloads of firewood yearly out of the forest of 

 Whinfell." 



But Whinfell too is now gone — whither ? We read : " When the 

 timber befjan to be cut down, extensive tanneries were established 

 at Temple Sowerby, which were supplied with skins chietly from 

 Ireland and America." White Heatiiek. 



NOTES ON BRITISH ORCHIDS. 



BY A. D. WEBSTEE. 

 {Concluded.) 



S. oestivalis (summer Spiranth). — A taller species than the last, the rootstock 

 moi'e horizontal, with longer and more cylindrical clustered tubers. I.eaves 

 narrow, lanceolate, usually larger than those of S. autumnalis, and clasping the 

 flower stem. Stem from 7 to 9 or 12 inches in length, and surmounted with a 

 rather loose spike of numerous small white flowers, individually larger than those 

 of S. cmtumnalis. 



This plant, a native of damp, boggy ground, may be readily 

 distinguished from the latter species by the flower stem, which 

 issues from the centre of the leaves, and is usually much taller. 

 The leaves are long, narrow, and pointed ; the lower pair short and 

 rather blunt, those farther up much larger and more pointed. From 

 ten to a dozen or more flowers compose the spike, these being large 

 (in comparison with S. autumnalis), and loosely, irregularly, and 

 spirally arranged. It is, in Britain, a rare plant, having only been 

 recorded from Hampshire, Worcestershire, and the Channel Islands. 

 On the Continent — especially in France — it is abundant, and is 

 frequently imported in considerable numbers by plant dealers. 

 I have grown and flowered this species fairly successfully from 

 tubers kindly sent by a continental friend. It requires a damp 

 soil, such as a mixture of leaf-mould and peat with a small quantity 

 of sand, and to be planted in a shady situation. Flowering period, 

 from July to August, much depending on the season, as well as 

 altitude at which it is grown. 



