212 OECHIDE^ 



Kent. It is probable that it is not so rare as is generally thought, its small 

 size and yellow-green flowers rendering it very inconspicuous. 



2. Fern Orchis (Liparis). 



Two-leaved Fern Orchis (L. loesSlii).- — Leaves 2, broadly lanceolate; 

 stem triangular; lip entire, longer than the perianth. This, which is a 

 much rarer plant than the preceding, is found also on spongy and sandy 

 bogs in Norfolk, Suftblk, Huntingdon, and Cambridgeshire, and Dillwyn 

 found it in East Kent, growing at Ham Ponds. Its stem is about six inches 

 high, and its flowers, which expand in July, and are of pale greenish-yellow 

 colour, grow in the form of a loose spike. The plant is thought by some 

 writers to grow upon the roots of moss. The genus is by some botanists 

 termed Sturmia. 



3. Coral-root (Corallorhfm). 



Spurless Coral-root {C. inndta). — Spur very short, or wanting; root 

 of thick fleshy fibres. This is a rare plant of boggy woods, found in the 

 east of Scotland. Its stem is from six to twelve inches high, and it 

 bears, in July, a few yellowish or olivaceous flowers in a short loose spike. 

 The sepals are keeled and spreading, lanceolate and acute, and the petals are 

 shorter, while the oblong whitish lip is waved, and sometimes lobed, at the 

 margin, and has a few purple spots upon it. The plant has no leaves, and is 

 distinctly characterized by the intertwining fibres of its underground stem, 

 which, as our plate will show, resemble a piece of branched coral in form, 

 though of pale-brown colour. It is a native of boggy soils in the northern 

 part of the globe, where it feeds upon decaying vegetable matter. 



4. Helleborine (Epipddis). 



1. Broad-leaved Helleborine (E. latifdUa). — Leaves oblong or egg- 

 shaped, many-nerved, embracing the stem, upper ones narrower ; raceme 

 long and many-flowered, lower bracts longer than the flowers ; upper lobe 

 of the lip broadly egg-shaped, or somewhat heart-shaped at the base, broadest 

 l)clow the middle, with two protuberances on the disk as long, or nearly as 

 long, as the sepals, and almost entire. Several varieties of this species occur, 

 differing in the shape and breadth of the leaves, the colour of the flowers, 

 and in the size of the terminal lobe of the lip. The Broad-leaved Helleborine 

 is not infrequent in the woods of mountainous countries, and is found both 

 in woods and on mountain slopes in some parts of this kingdom. The flowers 

 appear in July and August, and vary in the diff"erent forms from purplish- 

 green to an intense purple. The stem is from one to three feet high, the 

 leaves always becoming narrower towards its upper part, and the under- 

 ground stem creeping with long fibres. The forms generally recognised are : 



Sub-species E. lafifolia proper ; stems not tufted ; sepals ovate-oblong ; 

 tip of lip broader than long ; greenish-purple. The commoner form. 



Sub-species E.jnirpurata; stems often tufted; sepals oblong-lance-shaped, 

 more pointed than in the type ; tip of lip only as broad as long. Flowers 

 violet-purple. Rare, found only in the south of England. 



Sub-species E. atro-ruhens ; stems shorter, leaves smaller; tip of lip 



