ORCHID TRIBE 215 



are produced from the extremities of these fibres. The Bird's-ncst Orchis 

 flowers in June ; its thick fleshy stem is about a foot high, and the scales 

 which sheath it are very succulent ; the blossoms grow in a long spike. It 

 should be sought in dark beech-woods. This plant is the original Nedttia of 

 Linna3us, and many botanists separate it into a genus of that name, the 

 following genus being by them termed Sjnranfhes. 



6. Lady's Tresses {Nedttia). 



1. Fragrant Lady's Tresses (iV. spiralis). — Root-leaves oblong, stem- 

 leaves like bracts ; spike twisted, the flowers all pointing one way ; root- 

 stock formed of two or three tubers about as large as a hazel-nut. The 

 spiral arrangement of the blossoms of this pretty and delicate flower readily 

 distinguishes this and the next species from our other Orchids. The 

 blossoms are greenish-white, the upper sepal and the two lateral petals 

 are combined, and the lip is longer than the rest of the flower, which is 

 altogether somewhat bell-shaped in form. The spike sometimes twists from 

 right to left, but at others in the opposite direction. The stem, which is 

 from four to six inches high, is of a pale, almost sea-green hue, and the stem- 

 leaves are of the same tint, and slightly downy. The flowers have a sweet 

 though not powerful fragrance, the odour increasing in the evening. The 

 leaves around the base are of a bright glossy green, but they do not appear 

 till the flowers are fully blown. At the time when the flower raises its spike 

 above the decayed leaves of the last autumn, a new tuft of leaves springs 

 from just above the root, to prepare for the following season. The Rev. C. A. 

 Johns remarks that the foliage is so tenacious of life that it continues to 

 unfold even while subjected to the pressure made by the blotting-paper in 

 the process of drying. The plant is often called the Autumnal Lady's 

 Tresses, as it flowers in September and October. It is not unfrequent on 

 dry pastures. Also known as Spiranthes autumnalis. 



2. Summer Lady's Tresses (i\^. cestivdlis). — Root-leaves oblong-lanceo- 

 late, those of the stem lanceolate and narrow ; spike twisted ; tubers cylin- 

 drical. This is a very rare plant of bogs and marshes. Its recorded places 

 of growth are a bog betAveen Lyndhurst and Christchurch, in the New 

 Forest, Hants, and St. Ouen's Pond, Jersey. It has also been found in 

 Wyre Forest, Worcestershire. The ovaries on the flower-stalks are placed^ 

 regularly one above another, somewhat resembling plaited tresses ; and both 

 this and the last species are suggestive of various modes of hair-dressing 

 used by ladies in olden times, and rendered familiar to us by their portraits. 

 The flowers are greenish-white, in a lax spiral spike, and have a longer lip 

 than those of the last species. 



3. Drooping Lady's Tresses {N. drnua). — Root-leaves linear-lanceo- 

 late, stem-leaves lanceolate, somewhat triangular ; bracts shorter than the 

 flower ; spike crowded, 3-ranked ; sepals and petals equal ; lip blunt, with 

 shining tubercles at its base ; tubers long, cylindrical. This species is the 

 rarest of all European Orchids. It was not known to be a British plant until 

 the year 1810, when it was discovered by Mr. Drummond, at Castletown 

 Berehaven, County Cork, in Ireland. It then disappeared until the year 

 1841, when it was rediscovered on the same spot, and sent to Dr. Woods, 



