92 FAMILIAR WILD FLOWERS. 



good deal in size and form, and some of these extreme 

 variations have by some botanists been considered of 

 sufficient importance to give specific rank; but the new 

 species thus formed, Habenaria c/rloruntha,, is by no means 

 generally accepted. 



Though in ordinary parlance the plant takes rank as an 

 orchis, it will be noted on inspection of its botanical name, 

 that the men of science have placed it in another genus. 

 As this transfer from the genus Orchis arises chiefly from a 

 different structure of the anthers, and deals with technical 

 details of structure which would be scarcely appreciated by 

 non-botanists, we may for all practical purposes consider it 

 an orchis. Habena signifies a thong or strap ; the name 

 was bestowed upon the genus from the long and strap-like 

 form of the lower part or lip of the flower. 



