BOGS AND MARSHES 



black when dry, when young- slightly hairy, shortly- 

 stalked, broadest just below the middle. There 

 are no stipules. The catkins are oval, cylindrical, 

 stalkless, opposite or alternate, erect, then spread- 

 ing or bent back. The fertile catkins are com- 

 pact. The scales are small and purple. The 

 anther is purple. The stigma is oval, with a very 

 short style. The capsule is ovoid and blunt. The 

 Purple Osier is 5-20 ft. high, flowering in March 

 and April. It is a deciduous perennial. 



Salix acuminata, Sm. The habitat of this plant 

 is hedges and damp woods, osier beds. It has 

 been regarded as a variety of 5. -viminalis. The 

 buds are downy. The leaves are lance-shaped to 

 oblong, bluish -green, pointed, ash-colour, and 

 downy or hardly silky below, finely-toothed. The 

 stipules are half heart-shaped. The capsule is 

 ovate, tapering. The stigmas are oval, entire, 

 with a large style. This species grows to a height 

 of 25-30 ft. It flowers in April, and is a deciduous 

 shrub or tree. 



ORDER ORCHIDACE/E 



Bog Orchis (Malaxis paludosa, Sm.). The 

 habitat of this plant is spongy bogs and Sphagnum 

 swamps. The habit is the orchid habit. The 

 plant is an epiphyte. The stem is 5-angled, 

 swollen, sheathed, with white scales below, which 

 give rise to a new plant. The leaves are few, 

 fringed with cellular bulbils giving rise to new 

 plants, and leaves put in the ground serve the 

 same end. They are 3-5, inversely egg-shaped, 

 oval, blunt, concave. The flowers are numerous, 

 in a long raceme, with small bracts, on twisted, 

 ultimate stalks, and are yellowish-green. The 

 sepals are egg-shaped, spreading, 2, turned up- 

 wards. The petals are linear to oblong, bent 

 backwards, the lip is superior, as long as the 

 petals, 3-veined, erect, acute, concave, embracing 

 the column below. The plant is 1-4 in. high, 

 flowering between July and September, and is a 

 herbaceous perennial. 



Fen Orchis (Liparis Loeselii, Rich.). The habi- 

 tat of this plant is spongy bogs. The plant has 

 the orchid habit, and is an epiphyte on Sphagnum. 

 The stem is 5-angled, leafless above, swollen, 

 sheathed with scales below, with a large, egg- 

 shaped bulb below. The leaves are oblong to 

 lance-shaped, keeled, elliptic, acute, stalked. The 

 flowers are pale-yellowish-green, ascending, in a 

 loose spike. The sepals are lance-shaped. The 

 petals are linear, the lip oblong to inversely egg- 

 shaped, blunt-pointed. The bracts are small. The 

 plant is 4-8 in. high, flowering in June and July, 

 and is a herbaceous perennial. 



Coral-root (Corallorhiza mnata, Br. = C. trifida, 

 Chat.). The habitat of this plant provides leaf- 

 mould on which it lives. There are no true roots. 

 The rhizome consists of short, fleshy, thick, whitish 

 branches, coral-like (hence corallorhiza], Myco- 

 rhiza, a fungus attached to the rhizome, does the 

 duty of root-hairs, converting the nutriment in the 

 humus to the use of the plant. The plant is a 

 saprophyte. The stems are slender. The sheaths 

 VOL. VI. 



are loose, reddish-brown. The leaves are brown, 

 lance-shaped. The flowers are 4-8, yellow, in a 

 loose spike, on short stalks. The lip is oblong, 

 white, with a few purple spots or tubercles, with 

 3 equal lobes. The sepals and petals are lance- 

 shaped, egg-shaped, acute. The sepals are olive- 

 green, the lateral bent down. The petals are 

 narrower. The spur is short, or there may not be 

 one. The plant is 6-12 in. high, flowering between 

 June and August, and is a herbaceous perennial. 



Large-flowered Ladies' Tresses (Spiranthes 

 eestivalis, Rich.). The habitat of this orchid is 

 bogs. The plant has the orchid habit. The stem 

 is devoid of hairs. The tubers are several, cylin- 

 drical. The radical leaves are linear -oblong, 

 narrow, lance-shaped. The flowers are white, in 

 a spiral series, all one side, in a loose, slender 

 spike, many-flowered, downy, with a large lip. 

 The column and lid are acute. The intermediate 

 processes are lance-shaped, acute. The plant is 

 6-18 in. high, and is in flower in July and August, 

 being a herbaceous perennial. 



Irish Lady's Tresses (Spiranthes romanzoffiana, 

 Cham.). The habitat of this species is boggy 

 places. The habit is erect. The tubers are cylin- 

 drical. The stem is thick, smooth, with numerous 

 bracts or leaves, the lower lance-shaped, narrow. 

 The spike is dense, downy and glandular, with 

 flowers in 3 series or rows. The sepals and petals 

 are equal, the lateral sepals united at the base. 

 The flowers are fragrant, white, the lip tongue- 

 shaped, and narrowed below the tip, which is bent 

 back and scalloped. The plant is 6-10 in. in 

 height. The flowers are found in August and Sep- 

 tember. It is a herbaceous perennial. 



Loose-flowered Orchid (Orchis laxiflora^ Lam.). 

 The habitat of this plant is wet meadows and 

 bogs, marshes, ballast heaps at Hartlepool. The 

 plant has the erect orchid habit. The 2 tubers are 

 round, not divided. The stem is round, grooved, 

 the leaves are lance-shaped, unspotted, with a long 

 point. The flowers are bright-reddish-purple, in a 

 loose spike. The bracts are 3-veined, and coloured, 

 as long as the ovary. The sepals and petals 

 are blunt. The lip is as broad as long, and the 

 lateral sepals are turned back. The lip is 3-lobed, 

 the lateral lobes turned back, large, scalloped, the 

 middle lobe absent or shorter. The spur is blunt, 

 half as long as the ovary. The plant is 1-3 ft. 

 high. It flowers in May and June, and is a herb- 

 aceous perennial. 



Orchis incarnata, L. The habitat of this orchid 

 is marshes. The habit is as in the last. The 

 stem is hollow. The leaves are lance-shaped, 

 acute, narrowed from a broad base, unspotted, 

 approaching the stem, erect, the tip hooded, hol- 

 low. The bracts usually exceed the flowers. The 

 flowers are larger, purplish to flesh-colour, the 

 lip 3-lobed, the border turned down, scalloped, the 

 spur awl-like, shorter than the ovary, the 2 lateral 

 sepals spreading, the middle one and the petal 

 meeting together. The plant is in flower in June 

 and July, and is a herbaceous perennial. 



Orchis pr&termissa, Drucc. Differsin havingthe 

 flowers pale flesh-colour, the lobesof the lipreflexed. 



