2T8 FLOWERING PLANTS OF THE RIVIERA 



escutcheon bordered with yellow and with reddish-brown hairy edges. Lip 3- 

 lobed, the central lobe very large. Column obtuse, not beaked. 



Dry, grassy places on the littoral, very rare. April. Found by Mr. F. Raine 

 at the Vieux Salins near Hyeres, and in 1865-6 Moggridge found two specimens 

 behind Garavan near Menton. Not elsewhere in France. 



O. bombylliflora Lk. Tubers 2-3, one being stalked. The sepals 

 greenish, oval, spreading ; the petals one-third of their length, reddish-green. Lip 

 small, oval, rounded, very convex, purple-black, velvety, with glabrous mark, 

 trilobed, the 2 lateral lobes vertical and pointed, the central broad lobe curved 

 backwards. Flowers small, 1-4 in a loose raceme. Column obtuse, not beaked. 



Meadows and sandy fields near the sea, rare. March-May. Almanarre, La 

 Plage d'Hyeres, near Menton and Ventimiglia, and by the R. Brague. 



** Outer divisions of perianth (" sepals "), rose or nearly white. 



O. apifera Huds. Bee Orchis. The sepals ovate, white or pink, some- 

 times streaked with green, the petals half or one-third as long, narrow-lanceo- 

 late, greenish-pink, velvety. Lip very convex, broad, rich velvety brown, downy at 

 the edges, and marked with paler greenish lines or spots ; lobes small and turned 

 down, the two lateral ones conical, the middle one large and variable, with curved 

 appendage. Column erect, with curved beak. 



Grassy places, woods, and borders of fields, common. April-June. 



The Bee Orchis is very variable in the S. of France and often taller than in 

 England. On the sandy Isthmus de Giens, where so many interesting and 

 uncommon plants grow, we have seen very fine specimens of a beautiful 

 salmon-pink colour. Moggridge gave in his " Contributions to the Flora of 

 Mentone " some interesting results of his observations on this group of Orchids. 



O. Bertolonii Mor. (Plate XXX). The sepals pink or sometimes 

 white, oblong ; the petals shorter, linear, purplish, ciliate. Lip not gibbous, 

 deep velvety purple with a smooth shining patch in the middle. A short append- 

 age to the middle lobe. Column with a long beak, slightly bent forward. 



Dry hill-sides and stony places, rare. April- June. 



This plant, according to Moggridge, is " closely linked on by intermediates 

 to the forms of O. aranifera with pink sepals and purplish lip," but can be 

 readily distinguished from them " by its long horizontal lip with large depressed 

 shield-shaped marking". Bicknell in " Flora of Bordighera and San Remo ". 

 See also note in the Misses Chamberlain's "Common Objects of the Riviera" 

 (1912). 



O. arachnitiformis Gren. and Philippe. The sepals rose, oblong; the 

 petals half the length, smooth, brownish-pink. Lips almost quadrangular, 

 dark velvety purple-brown, with 2 pale straight marking, the large middle 

 lobe apiculate in the centre. Column with short, obtuse beak. 



Dry, sandy and grassy places onlhe littoral oi the Var. April-May. 



O. tenthredinifera Willd. This rare species has a deeply emarginate lip 

 and very broad pink outer sepals. It is recorded by Albert from grassy slopes 

 towards Mont de Gantier near Sollies- Ville. April-May. 



O. fuciflora H. G. Reich. = O. arachnites Lam. The sepals deep pink or 

 rarely white, oblong or oval ; the petals about one-third as long. Lip entire, 

 almost truncate, dark velvety purple-brown, marked with green symmetric lines, 

 and having an appendage curved upwards. Column with short beak. A hand- 

 some species. 



Fields, sandy places, and wooded slopes, not common. March-May. 



O. Scolopax Cavanilles. The sepals pink, oblong; the 2 petals about 

 half or one-third the length, linear, pink. Lip very convex and almost cylindrical, 

 deep purple-brown and velvety, marked with symmetrical green lines and having a 

 3-toothed appendage curving upward. Column with slender acute beak. Differs 

 from the last chiefly in its very convex middle lobe. 



Wooded slopes and under the olives near the coast. April-June. 



