ORCHIS FAMILY 179 



6. LYSIELLA Rydb. 



Small herbs, with rootstocks. Stem scapiform, with a single obovate leaf at 

 the base. Flowers greenish yellow. Upper sepal round-ovate, erect, surround- 

 ing the broad column; lateral sepals reflexed-spreading. Petals lanceolate, 

 smaller; lip entire, linear-lanceolate, deflexed. Spur slightly curved, shorter 

 than the ovary. Anther-sacs divergent, wholly adnate, arcuate; glands small, 

 their faces incurved. Pod obovoid. 



1. L. obtusata (Pursh) Rydb. Stem slender, 1-2.5 dm. high, glabrous; 

 leaf 5-12 cm. long; spike 2-6 cm. long, loosely flowered; flowers about 1 cm. long; 

 spur longer than the lip, slender, straight. Habenaria obtwiala Richards. Boggy 

 places in the woods: Newf. — -N.Y. — Colo. — Alaska. Mont. — Subalp. Je-Au. 



7. LIMNORCHIS Rydb. Bog Orchid. 



Leafy-stemmed plants, with elongated fusiform root-like tubers and fleshy- 

 fibrous roots. Flowers whitish or greenish or tinged with purple. Upper 

 sepal ovate to almost orbicular, erect, 3-7-nerved; lateral sepals from linear to 

 ovate-lanceolate, free from the lip, 3-nerved, seldom 4-5-nerved, spreading or 

 often somewhat reflexed. Lateral petals erect, lanceolate, 3-nerved, oblique at 

 the base. Lip entire, flat or slightly concave, reflexed, free, from linear to 

 rhombic-lanceolate, obtuse. Column short and thick. Anther-sacs parallel, 

 opening in front. 



Lip more or less lanceolate, i. e., broad near the base. 



Flowers greenish or purplish; lip not rhombic at tlie base. 



Spur decidedly clavate, thickened and obtuse at the apex, shorter than the lip. 

 Petals purplish; spur only one-half to two-thirds the length of the lip, very 

 saccate. 

 Lip linear or nearly so, 5-7 mm. long; ovary slightly curved; spike usually 



elongated. 1. L. stricla. 



Lip lanceolate, fleshy, 4-5 mm. long ; ovary strongly curved ; spike usually 

 short. 2. L. purpurascens. 



Petals greenish; spur almost equalling the lip. 3. L. viridiflora. 



Spur slender, scarcely thickened at all towards the apex, often acutish, equal- 

 ling or slightly exceeding the lip; plant tall and stout; flowers comparatively 

 large: sepals 4-6 mm. long. 4. L. media. 



Flowers white or nearly so; lip lanceolate, decidedly dilated, subrhombic at the base. 

 Spur only slightly if at all exceeding the lip. 



Spur usually shorter than the lip and clavate. 5. L. borealis. 



Spur equallmg or slightly exceeding the lip, slightly or not at all clavate. 



6. L. dilatata. 

 Spur from one-fourth to two-thirds longer than the lip. 7. L. leucoslachys. 



Lip linear, i. e., not at all dilated at the base. 



Spur shorter than the lip, decidedly saccate. 1. L. stricta. 



Spur much exceeding the lip, fDiform. 



Spike comparatively dense. 8. L. ensifolia. 



Spike very lax. 9. L. laxiflora. 



1. L. stricta (Lindl.) Rydb. Stem tall and strict, 3-10 dm. high; lower 

 leaves oblanceolate, obtuse, 5-12 cm. long, the upper lanceolate, acute; spike 

 1-3 dm. long, lax; flowers 12-14 mm. long; lip linear, obtuse, 5-7 mm. long, 

 thick, purple. Platanlhera stricta Lindl. Habenaria gracilis S. Wats. ^ 

 and wet meadows: Alta. — ■N.M. — Ore. — Alaska. Submont. — Mont. Je-Au. 



2. L. purpurascens Rydb. Stem stout, 3-5 dm. high; leaves ovate to 

 lanceolate, acute, (J-10 cm. long, dark green; spike rather dense; flowers 10-12 

 mm. long; lip about 5 mm. long, scarcely at all dilated at the base. Damp 

 wooded hillsides and brook-banks: Colo. Submont. — Subalp. Je-Jl. 



3. L. viridiflora (Cham.) Rydb. Stem 2-5 dm. high; lower leaves 5-15 cm. 

 long, oblanceolate, obtuse; spike short and dense; flowers 10-12 mm. long, light 

 green; lip lanceolate, obtuse, less than 5 mm. long. Habenaria hyperborea 

 Coult., not R. Br. Bogs: Alta. — Colo. — Alaska. Submont. — Mont. Je-Au. 



4. L. media Rydb. Stem very stout, 4-8 dm. high; leaves lanceolate, acute, 

 1-2 dm. long; spike long, densely flowered; flowers divaricate, about 15 mm. 

 long; Hp about 6 mm. long. Bogs: Que. — N.Y. — (Black Hills) S.D. Boreal — 

 Submont. 



