ii2 FLOWERS OF THE WOODS AND COPSES 



pollination. But in their absence self-pollination occurs regularly. The 

 pollen-mass, moreover, does not usually fail to reach the stigma in the 

 same flower. 



The seeds are extremely small and light, and are dispersed by the 

 wind. 



The Bee Orchid is distinctly a lime-loving plant, and addicted to 

 limestone, oolite, or the chalk, and a lime soil. 



Ophrys, Pliny, is the Greek for eyebrow, alluding to the yellow 

 markings on the lip, which are honey-guides leading to the nectary. 

 The second Latin name refers to the resemblance of the petals in 

 form to the outline of a bee. 



This Orchid is called Bee-flower, Bee Orchis, Dumble Dor, Honey- 

 flower, Humble-bee. Many of these refer to the mimetic character of 

 the flower. 



The root tubers have been employed to furnish jalep. 



ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 



293. Ophrys apifera, Huds. Stem slender, leaves oblong, flowers 

 purple, in shape resembling a bee, sepals pink within, intermediate 

 lobes of lip reflexed. 



Snowdrop (Galanthus nivalis, L.) 



It would be both interesting, and surprising, if the Snowdrop 

 occurred in Glacial times in Britain, but we have no record, and it 

 is found to-day in Europe south of Holland, and W. Asia. It has 

 been recorded from as many as sixty-four of the vice-counties of Great 

 Britain, but there is no evidence that it is native except perhaps in 

 Hereford and Denbigh, and elsewhere it is naturalized both in Eng- 

 land and Scotland, but not in Ireland. It is said to be native in 

 Edinburgh. 



The Snowdrop, so familiar in our gardens and plantations, is found 

 in a semi-natural state in meadows and copses, in many cases, as in the 

 case of Crocus, Tulip, Daffodil, Narcissus, &c., having only migrated 

 from a garden or orchard. The Snowdrop and Crocus have a similar 

 habit. The leaves are smooth, hollowed out above, lanceolate, with the 

 tips curved inwards, nearly as long as the flowering stems. The Snow- 

 drop is a bulbous plant, with the leaves arranged in a rosette, but erect. 



The flowers are pure white, hence the first Greek and second Latin 

 and English names. They are usually drooping. The spathe en- 

 closing the flower is membranous. The inner segments are greenish. 

 The sepals are inversely egg-shaped and hollowed out. 



