ORCHIDACE^ 39 



POPULAR KEY TO BRITISH SUB-FAMILIES AND GENERA 



A. Fertile anthers two, on horn-like side-lobes of column which ends in a large 



staminode. 



Sub-family DiANDRiE 



1. Lip inflated, yellow, calceolaria-like; sepals and petals brown-purple; side-sepals 



joined together behind lip; staminode wliite spotted red. Cypripedium 



B. Fertile anther one only, at apex of column. 



Sub-family MoNANDRiE 

 I. PoUinia without caudicles (stalks) at base. 



2. Column long; rostellum none; pollinia crescent-shaped; flowers white or rose; lip 



with parallel coloured crests. Cephalanthera 



3. Column short; pollinia club-shaped, deposited in shallow cup (clinandrium) 



beneath the anther; lip with basal cup (hypochile) glistening with nectar, and 

 triangular or heart-shaped apex (epichile). Epipactis 



4. Leaves two only, nearly opposite, some way up stem. Lip narrow, forked; 



anther depositing pollinia on the tongue-shaped rostellum; ovary nearly 

 globose; nectar-filled groove doivn middle of lip. Listera 



5. Whole plant smoky brown without leaves or chlorophyll. Anther and rostellum 



as in 4. Crowded fleshy roots. Neottia 



6. Rhi:(pme slender, creeping. Flowers small, white, glandular, hairy, in a slightly 



twisted spike; lip with deep bag-like base and long spout-like epichile. Goodyera 



7. Roots 2-6, thick. Flowers small, wliite, tubular, sweet-scented, in a twisted 



spike; column horizontal, ending in a linear brown or grey viscid gland, leaving 

 a green fork behind when withdrawn. Spiranthes 



8. Small marsh plant. Stem with bulb-like swelling at base. Leaves two, oblong, 



erect, glossy. Flowers green with slender sepals and petals and much broader 

 upcurvedlip. Liparis 



9. Very small marsh plant. Leaves two, small, concave, with tiny buds at apex. 



Flowers very small, green, with lip pointing upivards. Malaxis 



Stem with sheaths but no leaves. VJoiiome branched, coral-like. Flowers small, 

 yellowish green, with white, tongue-shaped, red-spotted lip. Corallorhiza 



n. Pollinia attached to viscid glands by caudicles. 

 II. Stem without leaves, much swollen at base. Khiiome with flattish coral-like 

 branches. Flowers large, inverted, yellowish, with erect red-tubercled lip and 

 thick spur. Epipogon 



10, 



