HEATHS AND MOORS 



163 



parasite, and the habitat is that of the plants it 

 grows upon, roots of shrubby Papilionaceae as 

 Gorse and Broom, &c., pastures and heaths, or 

 commons. The stem is erect, brown, stout, leaf- 

 less. The corolla is dull-yellow, more or less 

 bell-shaped, gaping-, only the base remaining after 

 flowering. The stamens are inserted at the base 

 of the tube, and the anther-stalks are hairy above, 

 smooth below. The spike is dense. The upper 

 lip is arched, entire, the lower middle lobe longer 

 than the side lobes. The anthers are white when 

 dry. The stigma consists of 2 distant yellow 

 lobes. The valves of the capsule cohere at each 

 end. The seeds are numerous. The plant is 

 1-3 ft. in height, and flowers between June and 

 August, being perennial. 



Red Thyme Broom-rape (Orobanche rubra, Sm. 

 = O. alba, Steph. = O. Epithymum, D.C.). The 

 habitat of this plant is that of Wild Thyme,, upon 

 which it is a parasite, or heaths. The habit is 

 that of a parasite. The plant is sweet-scented, 

 and red in colour (hence rubra). There are no 

 leaves, and the aerial stem is a scape. The flowers 

 are borne in a loose spike. The sepals are i -veined, 

 or with a second faint one near the anterior margin, 

 entire, lance-shaped, or awl-like, narrow, longer 

 than the tube of the corolla. The corolla is dull- 

 red, as long as, or shorter than, the bracts, bell- 

 shaped, with a broad, curved tube, with small 

 lobes. The upper nearly entire or notched lip is 

 arched, glandular, downy within. The lips are 

 toothed and crisped. The lateral lobes of the 

 lower lip are nearly equal, and the middle lobe is 

 rather long. The stamens are inserted near the 

 base of the tube. The anthers are brown when 

 dry. The anther-stalks are hairy below, glandular 

 above. The stigma is pale-red, divided into 2 lobes. 

 The plant is 4-9 in. in height, flowering between 

 June and August, and is a herbaceous perennial. 



ORDER LABIATE 



Small Pink Skullcap (Scutellaria minor, Huds.). 

 The habitat of this plant is boggy places, moist 

 heaths, swampy heaths, the sides of ditches. The 

 habit of the plant is erect. The stems are slender, 

 sometimes much-branched. The lower leaves are 

 broadly ovate, the intermediate leaves ovate to 

 lance-shaped, the base heart-shaped. The upper 

 leaves are lance -shaped, rounded below, entire, 

 somewhat scalloped below. The leaves are shortly- 

 stalked or stalkless, and b.unt. The flowers are 

 in the axils, opposite, turned one way. They are 

 pale-pink in colour. The calyx is downy. The 

 tube of the corolla is straight, and the corolla is 

 small. The nutlets are smooth. The plant is 

 4-12 in. in height, flowering between July and 

 October. It is a herbaceous perennial. 



ORDER ORCHIDACE^; 



Orchis ericetorum, W. R. Linton(= O. prcecox, 

 Webst.). This is more slender than O. maculata, of 

 which it was regarded at first as a sub-species only 

 (but see below. It is Linnaeus's type). The stem 



is purple above. The leaves are narrower, more or 

 less bent-back, the lower stem-leaves more or less 

 long and narrow-pointed, keeled, and folded. The 

 spike is 1-2 in., broadly pyramidal, at length 

 oblong. The bracts are purple. The flowers are 

 pale, not scented, with dark-purple markings, the 

 ground colour commonly white or tinged with 

 pink, but sometimes of deeper colour. The outer 

 line of markings is nearly or quite complete. The 

 honey-gland is slender, slightly enlarged (or not 

 at all) upwards, and the throat is narrow. The 

 lower lip is suborbicular, rounded in outline, rather 

 spreading. The mid-lobe is much smaller than 

 the broad, obliquely blunt or scalloped, lateral 

 lobes, not exceeding them in length, and usually 

 shorter or somewhat bent-back. This is true 

 O. macula fa, L., as recently defined by Mr. G. C. 

 Druce. 



Ore/it's Fuchsii, Druce. This plant is found on 

 wet heaths and marshy places. It differs from 

 O. maculata (see Vol. II), from which it has re- 

 cently been separated, in having a longer spike, 

 not pyramidal, and in the form and markings of 

 the lower lip. The leaves are narrower and also 

 less spotted. The plant is taller, i-i ft. high, 

 flowering from June to August, and is a herbaceous 

 perennial. 



Orchis O'Kellyi, Druce, has an oblong cylin- 

 drical spike. The lip consists of 3 narrow oblong 

 segments. The middle segment is longer than 

 the lateral ones, and becomes gradually narrow- 

 pointed. The leaves are narrow, acute, keeled, 

 unspotted. The flowers are white. The plant is 

 8-10 in. high, flowering from June to August, and 

 is a herbaceous perennial. 



ORDER LILIACE.S 



Grass-leaved Simethis (Pubilaria plant/alia, 

 Druce = Simethis bicolor, Kunth). This plant 

 was found on Poole Heath, near Bournemouth, 

 which was subsequently planted with firs. The 

 habitat elsewhere is sandy heaths and rocky 

 places. The habit is lily-like. The root consists 

 of stout, fleshy fibres. The stem is inclosed in 

 flat or concave, sheathing scales, surrounded by 

 brown, torn fibres like the leaves. The leaves 

 are flat, linear, keeled, long-pointed, bent -back. 

 The scape is as long as the leaves, branched or 

 forked. The bracts are slender. The flower- 

 stalks are slender and rigid. The flowers are 

 purple, in a corymb. The perianth-segments are 

 oblong, blunt, concave, purple on the back, white 

 within (hence bicolor). The capsule is bluntly 

 angular. The seeds are black. The plant is 

 6- 1 8 in. high, flowering in May and June, and 

 is a herbaceous perennial. 



Crow Garlic (Allium vineale, L.). The habitat 

 of this species is fields, pastures, dry places, and 

 waste places. The habit is grass-like, the stem 

 leafy. The bulb is small. The leaves are hollow, 

 adapted to dry conditions and wind, erect, flat, or 

 grooved, round, and become faded when the plant 

 is in flower. The spathe is single, with a long 

 beak, short, the round umbellate heads producing 



