8o ii.()\vi-:rs ()!• 11 H''. iii:i.i)s and mi:.\i)()\vs 



lu'iicr the name Adam and l'',\c. ("liildi-cn sa\- the luots (uibers) were 

 once the thumb ol some imhuricd niurderer, und call them I'loody 

 Man's Thumb. There was a ijclii f that Orchids sprang- Irnin die seed 

 of the blackbird or thrush. 



Jalep (Salep) was made h-oni the tubers, and was much used in the 

 luist. The substance it contains is bassorinc, which replaces the starch, 

 and is dried and grounil into [)o\vder. 



Essential Specific Characters: — 



291. Oir/iis imrscii/a, L. — Aerial stem a scape, tall, leaves radical, 

 lanceolate, with purple .spots, flowers purple, in a lax spike, 2 sepals, 

 reflexed upwanls, acute, lip tridobed, Ijracts veined. 



Spotted Orchid (()rchis maculata, L.) 



ThouL;h an upland Arctic type this Orchid is not tountl in early 

 deposits. It is distributed throughout North Temperate and Arctic 

 Europe, exce[)t in Greece and in N. and W. Asia. 



This species occurs in all parts of Great Britain, except in Cardigan, 

 Montgomery, Isle of Man, Roxburgh, as far north as the Shetlands, 

 and in the Highlands is found at 3000 ft. It grows in Ireland and the 

 Channel Isles. 



No more common Orchid is to be found tlian the Spotted Orchid, 

 which is to be found growing in moist places in a variety of situations. 

 It occurs in lowdying marshes, in wet meadows, or hollows in fields, 

 bordering rivers and lakes. It also occurs on hillsides in wet places 

 from which issue little rills or springs. 



The Spotted Orchid has the usual ()rchid habit, being erect. The 

 tubers are palmate. The stem is slender, leafy above, solid. The 

 leaves are narrow, lance-shaped to inversely egg-shaped, usually 

 spotted with [)Ln-ple or black (hence maculata). The lower leaves are 

 blunt or acute, broader toward the tip; the upper are linear to lance- 

 shaped, and like the bracts. The bracts are awl-like, green, 3-nerved, 

 the lateral veins conspicuous, the upper bracts as long as the ovary, 

 the lower longer. 



The flowers are lilac, spotted with rose or purple, or white. The 

 spike is egg-shaped. The lip is flat, as broad as long, 3-lobed, the 

 margins curved backwards, scalloped, the middle lobe narrower, and 

 about as long as the lateral lobes, which are spreading. The spur is 

 straight, awl-like, shorter than the ovary. The 3 sepals are spreading. 

 The petals are converging. 



The Spotted Orchid is about i ft. high. The flowers may be found 



