790 



which I am disposed to consider a variety of O. Simia. I may here 

 observe that Bicheno refers this figure to O. militaris, and not to his 

 tephrosanthos. In the specimens of O. Simia the lip was in general 

 quite smooth, but in some there were a few small tufts of red hairs at 

 the base. I should characterise the three species thus : — 



O.fiisca. Sepals rather obtuse, connivent, united at the base. Lip 

 pinnately 4-lobed, with an intermediate point, rough with tufts 

 of red hairs ; lower lobes broader and shorter than the upper. 

 Bracts minute. 



O. militaris. Sepals acuminate, connivent, united at the base. Lip 

 pinnately 4-lobed, with an intermediate point, rough with tufts 

 of red hairs ; lower lobes broader and shorter than the upper. 

 Bracts minute. 



O. Simia. Sepals acuminate, connivent, united at the base. Lip 

 pinnately 4-lobed, with an intermediate point, generally quite 

 smooth ; all the lobes linear and similar. Bracts minute. 



Lindley, and after him Hooker and Babington, say that the English 

 plant is not the O. tephrosanthos of Villars. Villars says of his plant 

 that it is more like Ophrys anthropophora than like an Orchis, I sup- 

 pose he means in this comparison to except the spur. I know of no 

 plant to which such an observation would apply, nor can I under- 

 stand his Orchis militaris, where the " thighs " are longer as well as 

 broader than the arms. The three other species of this division of 

 the genus — O. longibracteata, O. undulatifolia and O. variegata, have 

 bracts longer than the germen. 



I went from Mantes to Houdan, in hopes of getting a ramble in 

 the forest of Rambouillet, which advances to within a league of that 

 place ; but the rain, if it did not absolutely hinder, very much limited 

 my exertions. One does not like to wade mid-leg in the water merely 

 to see whether a place looks promising, though one would not mind 

 doing it for a rare plant in view : even the wet bushes appal us when 

 in a state of uncertainty. My plants were Knappia minima, Agrostis 

 setacea, Alopecurus bulbosus, Hypochoeris glabra, Mentha rotundifo- 

 lia, Hieracium Auricula, Tragopogon pratense, with the rays nearly 

 twice as long as the calyx ; Seseli montanum, Adonis aestivalis, Ge- 

 nista pilosa, Scorzonera humilis, Myosurus minimus, Veronica verna 

 and Cirsium anglicum of DeCandolle; how far C. bulbosum and C. 

 pratensis of the same author are distinct from this plant, may admit 

 of question. 



