442 'i'HE OBC1IID 



of flowers, usually red or purple. Sepals and petals nearly equal. Lip 

 turned downwards, usually 3 to 5-lobed, or much dilated at the extremity, 

 and produced underneath at its base into a spur or pouch. Anther on 

 the face of the column, with 2 erect cells converging together at the 

 base, each cell containing a pollen-mass, contracted below into a short 

 stalk, terminating in a gland that is concealed in a pouch. 



A considerable genus, chiefly European and north Asiatic, with a very 

 few north American species. The allied genus Habenaria is separated 

 by technical characters so difficult for the beginner to appreciate that 

 the species of both genera are included in the following table. 



Spur of the perianth very slender, and longer than the ovary. 

 Flowers white, rather large, in a loose spike. Two leaves only 



at the base of the stem 1. J5T. bifolia. 



Flowers usually red, rather small, in a dense spike. Leaves 



several, narrowed. 

 Tubers of the rootstock entire. Spike ovate or pyramidal, 



very dense 9. O. pyramidali*. 



Tubers lobed or divided. Spike cylindrical, at length rather 



loose ...........2. H. conopsea. 



Spur from half the length to about the length of the ovary. 

 Sepals all converging and arching over the column and petals 



in the form of a helmet. Tubers entire. 

 Flowers few, in a loose spike. Lip broadly and shortly 3- 



lobed ... 1.0. Morio. 



Flowers numerous, in a dense or long spike. Lip with 2 



lateral, smaller lobes, and a large 2-cleft middle one . 2. O. militarit. 

 .Sepals, at least the lateral ones, spreading. . Petals, either alone 



or with the upper sepal, arching over the column. 

 Spike long or loose. Tubers entire. 



Bracts 1-nerved. Upper sepals arching over the petals . 4. 0. mascula. 

 Bracts with several veins. All 3 sepals spreading . . 5. 0. laxiftora. 

 Spike dense. Tubers lobed. 



Bracts shorter than the flowers. Lip irregularly 3-lobed . 6. 0. macutota. 

 Lower bracts longer than the flowers. Lip toothed or 



scarcely lobed . . 7. 0. latifolia. 



Spur exceedingly short, or reduced to a small pouch or cavity. 

 Lip linear, 3-lobed, the middle lobe more than an inch long . 8. 0. hircina. 

 Lip not above a quarter of an inch long. 

 Spike rather loose. Flowers green, rather small, with an 



oblong hanging lip, rather longer than the sepals . . 6. H. viridis. 

 Spike dense, with numerous small flowers, the lip not longer 



than the sepals. 

 Flowers purple /before expanding. Lip white, 4-lobed (3- 



lobed, with a 2-cleft middle lobe) . . . . 3. 0. ustulata. 



Flowers pink or pale purple. Lip 3-lobed . . . . 4. H. intacta. 

 Flowers white. Sepals ovate. Lip 3-lobed . . . 4. H. albida. 

 Flowers greenish-yellow. Sepals and petals very narrow. 



Lip 3-lobed . . HERMINIUM. 



1. O. Morio, Linn. (fig. 997). Green-winged 0. Tubers entire. Stems 

 seldom above 6 or 8 inches high, with a few rather narrow, almost 

 radical leaves, and 2 or 3 loose, sheathing scales higher up. Flowers 

 about 6 to 8, in a loose spike. Bracts thin and rather pink, about the 

 length of the ovary. Sepals purplish, arching over the much smaller 

 petals and column in the form of a helmet. Lip longer than the sepals, 

 convex, broadly and shortly 3-lobed, of a pinkish purple, pale in the 

 middle, with darker spots. Spur very obtuse, nearly as long as the ovary. 



In meadows and pastures, very common in central and southern 

 Europe, and temperate Asia, rarer towards the north, although extend- 

 ing into southern Scandinavia. Abundant in southern England, and 

 Ireland, scarcer northwards, and wanting in Scotland, ft. early summer. 



