444 THE ORCHID FAMILY. [Orchis* 



In moist woods, meadows, and shady places, in central and southern 

 Europe, extending to the Caucasus and northward to southern Scan- 

 dinavia. Generally distributed over Britain. Fl. spring and early 

 summer. 



5. O. laxiflora, Lam. (fig. 1001). Loose 0. Near 0. mascula, but 

 the leaves are narrow-lanceolate or linear ; the flowers rather larger, 

 of a rich red, in a much looser spike ; the bracts broader and always 

 more veined ; and the 3 sepals are spreading or reflexed, the petals 

 alone converging over the column. 



In moist meadows, common in southern Europe, extending into 

 central Germany and over the greater part of France and Belgium. 

 In the British Isles, conflned to Jersey and Guernsey and ballast heaps 

 at Hartlepool. Fl. spring and early summer. 



6. O. maculata, Linn. (fig. 1002). Spotted 0. Tubers rather flat, 

 and divided into 2 or 3 finger-like lobes. Stem usually about a foot 

 high. Leaves varying from nearly ovate to narrow-lanceolate, and 

 often marked with dark spots. Flowers in a dense oblong spike, 2 or 

 3 inches long, usually of a rather pale pink, but varying much in depth 

 of colour. Bracts marked with several veins, the lowest almost always 

 longer than the ovary, the upper ones shorter. Sepals about 8 lines 

 long, either all or the 2 lateral ones only spreading, whilst the petals 

 arch over the column. Lip broadly orbicular, either flat or the sides 

 reflexed, usually more or less toothed and irregularly 3-lobed, variously 

 spotted or variegated with a deeper colour, the middle lobe usually 

 small. Spur rather slender, a little shorter than the ovary. 



In meadows, pastures, and open woods, throughout Europe and 

 Russian Asia, from the Mediterranean to the Arctic regions. Abund- 

 ant in Britain. Fl. spring and early summer. It varies very much in 

 the breadth of the leaves, the size of the bracts, the colour of the 

 flower, and the shape of the lip, sometimes approaching very near to 

 0. latifolia, 



7. O. latifolia, Linn. (fig. 1003). Marsh 0. Very near 0. maculata, 

 and by some botanists considered as a mere variety. It is usually 

 more luxuriant, the stem more hollow, the leaves larger and not always 

 spotted, the spike longer and more leafy, the lower bracts, and some- 

 times nearly all, as long as or longer than the flowers, the flowers are 

 usually deeply-coloured and less variegated, the lip toothed only or 

 very obscurely 3-lobed, and the spur thicker ; but these characters are 

 not constant. 



With the same geographical range as 0. maculata, it is usually found 

 in moister situations or richer soils. Frequent in Britain. Fl. spring 

 and early summer. A variety with narrow unspotted leaves, more 

 regularly tapering from the base, is 0. incarnate, Linn. 



8. O. bircina, Scop. (fig. 1004). Lizard 0. A stout species, 1 to 5 

 feet high, with entire tubers and a leafy stem. Spike dense, 4 to 8 

 inches long ; the flowers rather large, of a dirty greenish-white, with a 

 disagreeable smell, and remarkable for their long, linear lip ; the 2 

 lateral lobes short, the middle one more than an inch long, rolled in- 

 wards in the bud, entire or notched at the tip ; the sepals converging 

 over the column, and the petals small. Loroylossum hircinum, Rich. 



Widely spread over central and southern Europe, but everywhere 

 scarce, and often in single specimens, extending into Belgium. K*> 



