OPHRYDE^—SERAPIADIN^— ORCHIS zij 



ORCHIS MACULATA X PLATANTHERA BIFOLIA(?) 

 Orchiplatanthera Chevallieriana A. Camus 



This plant is said to have looked from a distance like Vlatanthera bijolia the spike 

 bemg lax and not pyramidal. Tuber 3-lobed, leaves spotted. Comparison with 

 parents showed that in the general shape of flower, 3-lobed lip and short spur it 

 closely approached O. tnaculata, though the flower was rather larger and the colour 

 greenish white, as in P. bifolia—not lilac and not spotted. Found by Arthur Reid 

 July 2nd (1897), on a large moor carpeted with both parents, 600 ft. above sea-level' 

 near Glen Almond, Perth (O.K. p. 234 (1897)).' 



No character of P. bifolia is given except the lax non-pyramidal spike, and the 

 slightly larger greemsh wliite unspotted flowers. No mention is made of the leaves 



T?i ,*x'^ ^^'^ "^"^ 'P^"'"^ ^"^^^'^^ ''' "^J' '^° ^^d °f characteristic shape in' 

 1. bijolm), or of the pollinia, which in the latter have yellow oval discs attached 

 sideways and are not enclosed in a pouch as in Orchis. The evidence of the parentage 

 ot i .bijoha IS therefore inconclusive. It was not stated whether the Orchis parent 

 was O. maculata type or the sub-species elodes, which latter might be expected on an 

 elevated Scottish moor. 



Caloglossum viride x O. maculata, vide Caloglossum viride, p. 132. 

 Gjmnadenia conopsea x 0. mactdata, vide G. compsea, p. '144. 

 G. compsea x O. maculata sub-sp. elodes, vide G. conopsea, p. 145. 

 O. incarnata x mactdata, vide 0. incarmta, p. 190. 

 0. latifolia x maculata, vide 0. latifolia, p. 188. 



12. Orchis purpurella Steph. p. and f. 

 PI. 53- Dwarf Purple Orchid 

 Tubers palmate with 2-4 slender segments. Stem usually 10-20 cm. (one giant was 

 41 cm. tall), erect, hollow (walls as tliick as diameter of central tube), fluted above 

 Leaves about 4, 2-5 cm. broad, lanceolate, often acute, rather distant, sheaths long,' 

 blade loosely embracmg stem, slightly spreading, firm and rather thick, dull green 

 above, pale and rather glossy below, with sparse small faint spots at apex, sometimes 

 unspotted. Spike short (4-7 cm.), broad, ovate to cylindrical, often flat-topped, 

 usually dense. Bracts narrow, lanceolate, tapering (± 2 cm. x 6 mm.), edged or 

 flushed with purple, with numerous gland-Hke dots. Ovary cylindrical, twisted, 



tne two parents. Onlj,ptatantoera somersetensis A. Camus, ko„. Orch. d'Europe, p. 410 (1928). 



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