211 



A NEW EUROPEAN SERAPIAS. 



By Colonel M. J. Godfery, F.L.S. 



(Plate 560.) 



Serapias gregaria Godf., sp. nov. Taibera tria, globosa, quorum 

 utium sessile duo longipedunculata. Gaulis eursurn ruber, 2 raro 

 3 dm. alt. Folia linearia, acuminata conduplicata, recurva, summa 

 lanceolata, araplexicaulia, erecta. Spica laxa, ssepissiine 2-fiora, 

 iloribus quam ii S. Ungues paulluluni minoribus. Bractece oyato-lan- 

 ceolataj, acuminatissimae, galeae sepalinse culmen vix attingentes. 

 Sepala connata nonnunquam apice libera, lateralia anguste lanceo- 

 lata, acuminata, 3-5-nervia, superius ovato-lanceolatum, acuminatum, 

 + 9-nerve. Petala lats ovata, subito longe angustissiineque acumi- 

 nata, basi 3-nervia, margine crispa, atro-rubra, +17 mm. longa. 

 Labellum 3-lobum, sepala longitudine 0-9 mm. excedens, lobis late- 

 ralibus rotundatis convolutis galea absconditis, lobo mtermedio lan- 

 ceolate acuminato dependente saqnssinue reflexo pilis erectis rubescen- 

 tibus dense vestito. Golumna in toto ±10 mm. longa. Stigma 

 oblongum. Bostellum rubescens. Poll in ia dilute viridia ; caudiculse 

 cylindracea?, flavse. 



Sab. in collibus scbistosis ad Hyeres. 



Tubers 3, one sessile, two long-stalked, globose. Stem 2, rarely 

 3 dm. tall, red above, leaf-sheaths at base often spotted with red. 

 Leaves linear, tapering to a line point, folded, recurved, uppermost 

 broader at base, lanceolate, erect, amplcxicaul. Spike lax, Rowers 

 slightly smaller than in lingua, usually 2, sometimes 3-1, rarely 5, 

 always dark-coloured. Brads ovate-lanceolate, very acuminate, 

 scarcely reaching tip of helmet, pale red, with darker nerves. Sepals 

 soldered throughout, rarely free at tip, ashen-grey suffused purple-red, 

 blackish red within, lateral narrow lanceolate acuminate, 3-5-nerved, 

 upper usually broader, concave at base, ovate lanceolate acuminate, 

 ±9-nerved. Petals broadly ovate, 3-nerved at base, blackish red, 

 edo-es crisped, ±17 mm. long, passing abruptly into a long hair-like 

 1-nerved acumen. Labellum 3-lobed, exceeding sepals by 6-9 mm., 

 concolorous, dark liver-red, scarcely paler in the middle, with dense 

 erect reddish hairs extending down the mid-lobe, and with 2 glossy 

 dark red parallel sharp-edged calli at the base ; side-lobes rounded, 

 rolled into a tube entirely covered by the helmet ; mid-lobe lanceo- 

 late, acuminate, dependent, very often reilexed. Column blackish 

 purple, ±10 mm. long, including green anther and red beak 

 (1 mm.). Stigma oblong on concave face of column ; stigmatic told 

 grooved. Bostellum reddish, viscid disc hyaline. Polhnia pale 

 o-reen, caudicles cylindrical, yellow. 



Sab. Schistose hills, Hyeres, absent from limestone. April- 



May 



On April 7th, 1920, on the dry schistose hills behind Hyeres, 

 France, I found a colony of what has always been taken to be 

 Serapias lingua L., but on comparison with the descriptions of Kony 

 and Camus, I noticed the following discrepancies :— (1) llie leat- 



Journal of Botany.— Vol. 59. [September, 1921.] s 



