THE 



JOURNAL OF BOTANY 



BRITISH AND FOREIGN. 



ORCHIS LATIFOLIA IN BRITAIN. 



Br Rev. T. Stephenson, D.D., and T. A. Stephenson, M.Sc. 



In discussing the problem of Orchis latifolia we cannot get any 

 help from the specimen in Linnaeus' Herbarium. The plant has 

 rather short, broad leaves, the lowest 11 cm. by 2 - 5 cm. It is widest 

 half-way between the middle and the base. The bracts are long and 

 broad, the flowers broad, with side-lobes of the lip hardly crenulate, 

 and centre-lobe rounded. It cannot be seen whether the leaves were 

 originally spotted or not. 



In his description {Species Plantarum, Edn. 1, p. 194) Linnaeus 

 says "folia parum maculata prsesertiminfenora." In this connection 

 " parum " should mean " slightly." From the reference to " Bauh. 

 Pin. p. 86 " and the other works, it would seem that he might admit 

 some unspotted forms. 



In his article on the British Marsh Orchises in the Orchid 

 Review (xxvi. p. 161, 1918) Mr. Rolfe says that the O. latifolia of 

 Linnaeus never has spotted leaves. This is totally to ignore the 

 description of Linnaeus himself. The Continental writers generally 

 describe O. latifolia as a plant with spotted leaves : Klinge says 

 leaves always spotted ; Camus, leaves spotted or not ; Rouy, leaves 

 usually spotted ; Schulze, leaves generally spotted ; Coste, leaves 

 often spotted with brown. Most of the figures in Reich. Icon. Fl. 

 Germ, are of plants with spotted leaves, and so also are the figures 

 of Schulze, Coste, and Camus. Some figures also have unspotted 

 leaves — e.g. Flora Danica, t. 26G, which is good " prcetermissa" 



^o Smith, E. B. t. 2308, and Curtis, Fl. Londinensis, 250, which are 

 s cj O. incarnata. 



Naturally it must be kept in mind that amongst all the spotted 



types there are unspotted individuals. In this case reversion seems 

 to be easy. Unspotted examples of O. ericetorum are often found, 



,' and perhaps more often of O. Fuchsii. The same is true of both 



£ forms of O. purpitrella, and it would be expected to occur in the case 

 of O. latifolia. Even then the plants witli incurved lip, stronger 

 looped pattern, and coarser texture of flower would be distinguishable 

 from O. prcetermissa of the ordinary type, and by their usually 

 lighter colour, less heavy pattern, and broader leaves from the darker 

 or " northern " form of O. prcetermissa. In the case of hybrids, 

 Journal of Botiny. — Yol. 59. [January, 1921.] p. 



