1885.] NOTES ON BRITISH ORCHIDS. 3G7 



sions, but always in company with the normal form, and after a 

 careful examination of several hundred specimens, and taking into 

 account the variability of colour in the flowers of E. latifolia, I 

 cannot think otherwise than that it is but a well-marked form 

 differing only in colour of flowers from the normal species. I could 

 in one wood alone show all gradations of colour, from pure Avhite, 

 through the normal green, to the deep pinky purple of the so-called 

 E. 2J^ir]jurca. E. latifolia is in this country a frequent occupant 

 of woods and the margins of shady fields, and seems by no means 

 particular as to soil, provided it is not peaty or excessively damp. 



I have, however, always noticed its preference for a somewhat 

 stiff, stony soil or even gravel ; indeed, about tlie largest and 

 finest specimens I have found were growing in the latter class 

 in a retentive subsoil. 



In some of the w^oods and pastures of Carnarvonshire this plant 

 is very abundant, but I have never noticed it at a greater elevation 

 than about 200 feet. As a garden plant it is of great interest, but 

 requires careful transplanting so as to preserve the roots intact, 

 neglect of which will soon prove fatal to even tlie strongest 

 specimen. 



I have found in some quantity a white-flowered form of this 

 plant, which is extremely handsome and a valuable addition to our 

 garden plants. The flowers are of a creamy white, but the plant 

 otherwise resembles E. latifolia unless in the colour of stem, which 

 is of an ashy yellow. It growls in considerable numbers in one of 

 the woods here, the normal form also occurring frequently in the 

 same place. 



E. oralis. — If not a distinct species, this is certainly a very 

 abnormal and beautiful variety of E. latifolia. 



Regarding its claims to specific identity, botanists are by no 

 means agreed, some describing it as a form, while others have raised 

 it to a distinct species. It is a rare plant, being only known in a 

 few localities in Britain, and there very sparingly distributed. 

 Years ago it was found in some plenty on particular parts of 

 the Orme's Head, but through the enthusiasm of collectors in that 

 quarter few specimens are now met with. It is an occupant of the 

 most denuded limestone rocks and cliffs, and braves fearlessly the 

 hottest glare of the noonday sun. There, growing only where Pyrus 

 aria could find a footing, it seems quite at home, and almost puzzles 

 one to fancy where the nourishment necessary for the bare existence 

 of life can be obtained. The plant seldom exceeds a few inches 

 in height, with ovate leaves, and a beautiful spike, large in propor- 

 tion to the plant's size, of variously-coloured flowers, resembling in 

 not a small degree those of E. palustris, but darker in colour. 



