57 



ORCHIDACEAE. 



VOL. I. 



3. Peramium decipiens (Hook.) Piper. Menzies' Rattlesnake Plantain. 



Fig. 1404. 



i 



Spiranthes decipiens Hook. Fl. Bor. Am. 2 : 203. 



1839- 

 Goodyera Mensiesii Lindl. Gen. & Sp. Orch. 492. 



1840. 

 P. Mensiesii Morong, Mem. Torr. Club 5: 124. 



1894. 

 P. decipiens Piper, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb, n : 



208. 1906. 

 Epipactis decipiens Ames, Orchidaceae 2: 261. 



1908. 



Scape stout, 8'-i5' high, glandular-pubescent. 

 Leaves ovate-lanceolate, i\'-2\' long, 8"-i5" 

 wide, the blade acute at both ends, often with- 

 out white blotches or reticulations; spike not 

 i-sided; flowers greenish white; perianth 4"- 

 42" long; galea concave, ovate-lanceolate, the 

 tip long, usually recurved, lip swollen at the 

 base, with a long narrow recurved or spread- 

 ing apex; anther ovate, pointed, on the base of 

 the column, which is prolonged above the 

 stigma into a gland-bearing awl-shaped beak. 



In woods, Quebec to British Columbia, New 

 Hampshire, Michigan, Arizona and California. 

 Aug. 



4. Peramium pubescens (Willd.) MacM. 

 Downy Rattlesnake Plantain. Net- 

 wort. Fig. 1405. 



Ncottia pubescens Willd. Sp. PI. 4: 76. 1805. 

 Goodyera pubescens R. Br. in Ait. Hort. Kew. Ed. 2, 



5: 198. 1813. 



Peramium pubescens MacM. Met. Minn. 172. 1892. 

 Epipactis pubescens A. A. Eaton, Proc. Biol. Soc. 



Wash. 21 : 65. 1908. 



Scape 6'-2o' high, densely glandular-pubescent, 

 bearing 5-10 lanceolate scales. Leaves i'-2' long, 

 8"-i' wide, strongly white-reticulated, oval or 

 ovate; spike not i-sided; flowers greenish white; 

 perianth 2^"-3" long; lateral sepals ovate; galea 

 ovate, its short tip usually not recurved; lip 

 strongly saccate with a short broad obtuse re- 

 curved or spreading tip. 



In dry woods, Maine to Ontario and Minnesota, 

 south to Florida and Tennessee. Ascends to 4000 ft. 

 in North Carolina. Adder's-violet. Net-leaf or 

 spotted-plantain. Rattlesnake-leaf. Rattlesnake- or 

 scrofula-weed. Ratsbane. July-Aug. 



22. MALAXIS Soland. Sw. Prodr. 119. 1788. 

 [ACHROANTHES Raf. Med. Rep. (II.) 5: 352. 1808.] 



[MICROSTYLIS Nutt. Gen. 2: 196. 1818.] 



Low herbs, from a solid bulb, most species i-leaved, and with i-several scales at the base 

 of the stem. Flowers small, white or green, in a terminal raceme. Sepals spreading, separate, 

 the lateral ones equal at the base. Petals filiform or linear, spreading. Lip cordate or eared 

 at the base, embracing the column. Anther erect between the auricles, 2-celled; pollinia 4, 

 smooth and waxy, 2 in each sac, the pairs cohering at the summit, without caudicles or 

 glands. Capsule oval, sometimes nearly globose, beakless. [Greek, perhaps in allusion to the 

 soft tissues.] 



About 45 species, widely distributed. Besides the following, about 4 others occur in the 

 southern and western parts of North America. Type species : Malaxis spicata Sw. 

 Leaf sheathing the base of the stem. i. A. monophylla. 



Leaf clasping the stem near the middle. 2. A. unifolia. 



