64 FAMILIAR WILD FLOWERS. 



foliage when one comes upon a plant during a ramble over 

 the hills is that of a rosette of leaves surrounding the stem 

 bearing the flowers. The leaves are ordinarily irregularly 

 spotted and blotched with markings of a dark purple colour, 

 a feature that renders the plant more conspicuous and 

 attractive when out of flower than would otherwise be the 

 case. The root-stock develops each year a fleshy tubercle 

 for the supply of the nutriment needed for the next 

 season's growth; hence, ordinarily, in digging up the 

 plant two of these will be found. " These alter every year 

 by course, when the one riseth and waxeth full, the other 

 waxeth lank and perisheth : now it is that which is full 

 which is to be used in medicines, the other being either of 

 no use, or else, according to the humours of some, it 

 destroys and disannuls the virtue of the other, quite 

 undoing what that doth/' These tuberous root-like bodies 

 abound in a starchy matter, which is of great value, 

 being extremely nutritious, and under the name of salep 

 has been, at one time or another, largely employed as a 

 strengthening agent. It forms a diet of especial value to 

 convalescents and children, being boiled with milk or 

 water, flavoured and prepared in the same way that sago 

 or other farinaceous food would be. The finest salep is 

 brought from Persia, though the present species, 0. mascula, 

 and its congeners, 0. morio and 0. militaris, all British 

 plants, yield a quality, under careful preparation, that is 

 almost equal to that of the East. Should any of our 

 readers care to manufacture a little for the sake of the ex- 

 periment, and to test its nutritious qualities, the following 

 process is necessary : The roots of the orchis must be dug 

 up when the plant has done flowering and has formed its 

 seed, the new or next year's tubercle being then at its full 



