SOME MORE NOTES ON DOVEDALE PLANTS. 201 



occurs in some plenty on one part of the half-reclaimed Stafford- 

 shire moorland in this parish. I have never yet met with li. bifolia 

 in the rich vegetable soil of woods, which H. chlnrantha seems to 

 affect ; H. bifolia seems to prefer somewhat heathy ground. 



Ophrys vmsci/em occurs very sparingly in Dovedale, but I have 

 sought in vain for (>. apifera. 



Listera ovata. Dovedale, but scarce. 



Epijmctis latifolia. Brassington Eocks and Dovedale. The form 

 which occurs in Dovedale is one which shows a strong preference 

 for limestone, and is identical, or very nearly so, with the 

 Herefordshire plant from Little Doward Hill, referred by Prof. 

 Babington to E. oralis. This form agrees with the E. oralis of 

 Settle and the Ormshead in general growth, in the somewhat 

 sudden passage from leaves to bracts, in the bracts being mostly 

 shorter than the flowers, and in the transversely oval outline of the 

 label ; but it differs in the surface of the label being smooth, the 

 basal "hunches" not being prolonged downward so as to occupy 

 the centre of the label with an elevated rugose protuberance, bi;t 

 confined to the constriction which separates the two portions of the 

 lip. On account of this difference I have always ventured to doubt 

 the identity of the Herefordshire "oval is" with the plant of York- 

 shire and the Ormshead ; and now, after having again very 

 carefully compared them, I can only say that I still think them 

 different ; the differences are indeed but small, but much more 

 tangible than any which separate the Herefordshire " oralis " (and 

 the Dovedale plant also) from the forms by which it gradually 

 passes into the larger and more general plant which Prof. Babington 

 pointed out to me as his E. luedia, but which better answers to his 

 description of E. latifolia. The character of the label of the true 

 oralis is shown in the enlarged figure on the Eng. Bot. plate, and 

 is confirmed by a careful pencil-sketch made from a fresh Settle 

 specimen by the late Kev. G. E. Smith, and sent to me not very 

 long before his death. A comparison of these with my own 

 sketches made from the living Herefordshire plant makes the 

 difference clear, and supports my belief that the Herefordshire and 

 Derbyshire plants belong rather to E. latifolia or media than to E. 

 oralis, but that they constitute a limestone form which, out of many, 

 comes nearest to oralis. I have from time to time during many 

 years carefully examined the forms of aggregate E. latifolia which 

 I have met with either in the south-western or in the midland 

 counties, but I have never been able to see that the forms existing 

 in Nature were adequately recognised in books ; and I still venture 

 to think that a more extended study of these plants would lead to the 

 adoption of some more varietal forms than at present, and very 

 probably also to some rearrangement. There are drawbacks to the 

 study of the forms of Epijiactis in the facts that they are rarely 

 found in any quantity so as to allow of the comparison of many 

 individuals whilst fresh, and that, unless very unusual care be 

 taken in the pressing, there is little to be made out about the 

 flowers from dried specimens. It is best to detach one or two 

 flowers, and spread out the label between slips of paper, so as to 



