170 POPULAR FIELD BOTANY. 
all curious and interesting, and soon recognized when the 
more common kinds are known. Next month several more 
of this Annily will be added; and even now, I think, we 
may mention the genus ListeRA, in which two species were 
found in profusion during the last week of this month 
(1847), though usually they do not show their curious 
blossoms till the following month. They seem to differ 
principally from the Orchis by the lip of the flower beimg 
divided into two, not three. 
Listera ovata. Common Twayblade. The English 
name is well applied here, for the great characteristic of the 
plant is the having only two leaves, but they are very con- 
spicuous in size, and are opposite to each other, the 
spike of flowers rising up between them. The flowers are 
distant, yellowish-green, and very curious on examination, 
well re-paying a walk into the woods to obtain. Equally 
worthy of examination is the following curious species. 
LiIsTERA NIDIS Avis. Common Bird’s-nest. It is an 
extraordinary looking plant. In the first place, the root is 
composed of a number of fibres (not usually the case with 
the Orchis tribe), which cross one another in a curious 
manner, so as to look like a bird’s nest, whence its name. 
The colour of its flower is a delicate shade of brown, and at 
