ORCHID TRIBE 221 



produce no honey, but the insects are able to suck a presumably sweet juice 

 through the inner lining of the spur. To reach this their heads must be 

 pressed against the viscid base of the pollinia, which are thus glued to their 

 heads and drawn out of their pouches when the insect retires. The pollinia 

 then droop to some extent, and assume such position as brings them in 

 contact with the stigmas of flowers subsequently visited. 



10. Gymnadenia (Gymnadenia). 



Fragrant Orchis {GymnatUnia con6psca).—Lv^ 3-lobed ; lobes nearly 

 equal, entire, blunt, free from spots ; the two lateral sepals spreading ; the 

 two lateral petals converging ; spur slender, twice as long as the ovary ; 

 tubers egg-shaped. Several of our native Orchids have a pleasant and 

 delicate fragrance ; but none in this respect equals the Gymnadenia either 

 in power or sweetness. The scent is almost too much for a room, though 

 delicious when borne on the midsummer breeze from the hundreds of 

 blossoms which sometimes stud the dry grassy plains during June and the 

 two following months. It is especially common in the moimtainous parts of 

 Scotland ; but it grows, too, on many hill-sides of England, whence we may 

 gather a large and fragrant nosegay of its flowers from meadows, on which 

 they stand in conspicuous beauty by thousands. The flowers are of a deep 

 rose-colour, rarely white, and still more rarely spotted with deeper red. It 

 is found mostly on dry soils, often in company with the Pyramidal Orchis ; 

 but Mr. Loudon remarks that it grows sometimes with Epipadis palustris on 

 bogs, where the foot can hardly tread. The stem is about a foot high, the 

 leaves oblong-lanceolate, and keeled, and the flowers are arranged on a spike 

 somewhat dense at first, afterwards more lax. The flowers are distinctly 

 broader than long. Bentham unites this genus with the next. 



11. H ABENAKI A, BUTTERFLY Orchis (Eahendria). 



1. Green Hahenaria (H. viridis). — Spur 2-lobed, very short ; lip 2-cleft, 

 linear, with an intermediate tooth ; sepals and petals forming a hood ; bracts 

 much longer than the flower ; tubers palmate. This small Orchis is not 

 uncommon on dry pastures — a solitary specimen often growing on a spot far 

 from any other, unlike most of our Orchids, which generally grov^ socially. 

 Its stem is six or eight inches high, the helmet of the flower green, and the 

 lip greenish-brown. The blossoms form a lax spike from June to August. 

 The lower leaves are egg-shaped and blunt ; and the stem is from six to 

 twelve inches high. The plant is sometimes called, though with little 

 reason, Frog Orchis. 



2. Small White Habenaria {H. alUda).—Lv^ 3-lobed ; lobes acute, 

 middle one longest and broadest ; sepals and petals nearly equal, convergino- ; 

 spur blunt, shorter than the ovary; rootstock of fleshy fibres. This is a 

 smaller and prettier Orchis than the last, bearing a long spike of little 

 yellowish-white fragrant flowers, during June, July, and August. The 

 lower leaves are oblong and blunt, the upper lanceolate and acute. The 

 stem is from six to twelve inches high. This Orchis is not infrequent on 

 mountain pastures, in Sussex, Wales, and to the north of York and 

 Lancaster. 



