ORCHID TRIBE 219 



Orchis ; the helmet is of a pale ash colour, the lip deep purple, white in the 

 middle, and spotted. It occurs on chalky hills in Berkshire, chiefly about 

 Reading; and also in Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Kent, and Hertford- 

 shire, flowering in May. 



6. Monkey Orchis (0. fephrosdnihos). — Lip 3-parted; the two side 

 lobes long and narrow, the middle one deeply cleft with an intermediate 

 tooth ; sepals pointed, hooded, including the two petals ; spur half as long 

 as the ovary ; bracts very small. This beautiful and curious Orchis is 

 somewhat slender, and bears in May a spike of pale purple-spotted flowers, 

 with a lip cut into deep segments of darker purple. Some botanists doubt 

 if it is truly distinct from the last species. Sir J. D. Hooker regards it as a 

 sub-species of the Military Orchis under Lamarck's name of 0. simia. The 

 chief difterence consists in the more slender divisions of the lip and its 

 more crimson tint. It is found on chalk hills in Oxfordshire, Berkshire, and 

 Kent. 



7. Lax-flowered Orchis (0. Iaxifl6ra). — Lip 2 or 3-lobed; lateral lobes 

 rounded in front, longer than the intermediate lobe, which is sometimes 

 absent ; spur stout, half as long as the ovary ; lateral sepals turning back- 

 wards, middle one erect; petals hooded ; tubers globose. This plant is found 

 in wet grassy lands in Guernsey and Jersey, and on ballast heaps about 

 Hartlepool. It is a handsome flower in May and June. Mr. Babington 

 remarks, that it is allied to 0. murio ; but that plant has single-nerved bracts, 

 and all the segments of its perianth, except the lip, are hooded, the short 

 spur also aftbrding a distinctive character. The stem is one to three feet 

 high, the flowers of a bright red-purple, the leaves lanceolate or linear- 

 lanceolate. 



8. Marsh Orchis {0. lafifdlia). — Lip scarcely 3-lobed, its sides slightly 

 turning under ; sepals spreading, the two petals hooded ; spur cylindrical, 

 shorter than the ovary ; bracts as long as the flower, sometimes longer ; 

 tubers palmate. A very pretty flower is the Marsh Orchis, and a very 

 frequent one, too, on m.arshy meadows and damp grassy lands in June and 

 July, growing among the rich drooping clusters of the waxy pink cross- 

 leaved heath, and the green or pale and rosy-tinted bog mosses. It is a tall 

 and somewhat slender plant, with a hollow stem about a foot high, and 

 oblong, spotted leaves remarkably erect with flat tips. The flowers are 

 sometimes of a pale pinkish hue, but oftener deep lilac or dull purple, the 

 lip dotted and streaked with purple ; while, on the sands of Barrie, they 

 have been found perfectly white. The long bracts taper to a point. Also 

 known as 0. palmata. 



There is a sub-species (0. incarnata) with lance-shaped, pointed leaves, 

 broader at the base, unspotted, and with concave tips. This form has larger 

 flowers. It has been found in Cornwall, Hampshire, and Wiltshire. 



9. Spotted Palmate Orchis {0. maculdta). — Lip flat, 3-lobed ; sepals 

 spreading, the two petals hooded ; spur as long as or shorter than the ovary ; 

 bracts varying much in length, sometimes as long as the flower ; upper leaves 

 linear-lanceolate, lower ones mostly blunt, and spotted with purple ; tubers 

 palmate. The delicate lilac, or occasionally white, flowers of this Orchis 

 grow on a solid stem about a foot high in June and July, forming at first a 



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