ORCHIDACEyE , 221 



pointed leaves, and subsessile tubers. O. Champagtieuxi Barneoiid is another 

 variety, with one or both tubers stalked. Both forms are frequent in dry woods 

 and stony slopes on the littoral, O. picta sometimes being abundant. It is a 

 much more slender and often taller plant than O. Morio of northern Europe. 

 February- May. 



O. longicornu Pair. Allied to O. Morio. Plant 8-14 in. high. Flowers 

 in a lax oblong spike. Sepals obtuse, purple with green stripes. Lip 3-lobed ; 

 lateral lobes reflexed, dark violet the middle one very short, white spotted with 

 purple. Spur very long, ascending and arched, almost as long as. the 

 ovary. 



Dry grassy places, very rare. March-May. Near Bandol in the Var and also 

 iccorded from les Alpes-Marit. 



O. saccata Ten. Leaves oblong-lanceolate, usually spotted with brown. 

 Flowers dark purple, few, in a short lax raceme. Bracts large, longer than the 

 ovary. Sepals obtuse, the two petals connivent. Lip simple, oboval wedge- 

 shaped, wavy at the edge. Spur pendent, thick, conical, much shorter than the 

 ovary. 



Wooded slopes and grassy places in the Var, very rare. March-April. Near 

 Hyeres and Pierrefew. Not elsewhere known in France. 



O. pallens L. A robust plant with large shiny pale green leaves and 

 sulphur-coloured flowers, without spots, in a dense spike, having an unpleasant 

 odour. Spur cylindrical and either horizontal or ascending. 



Mountain woods and pastures in the Maritime Alps, usually above the region 

 taken in this work. May. 



0. provincialis Ball. (Plate XXX). A more slender species, with spotted, 

 oblong-lanceolate leaves. Bracts with 1-3 nerves shorter than ovary. Flowers 

 10-15 in a lax spike, pale yellow with small red spots on lip. Lip 3-lobed, the 

 middle one rather smaller, truncate and emarginate. Spur as long as the ovary. 

 Pollen masses yellow. 



Mountain woods and grassy places under the chestnuts. April- May. Sainte- 

 Baume, Colle-Noire, Fenouillet, Foret du Dom, Esterel, Contes, Berres, Menton, 

 etc. Especially common in Liguria. 



O. olbiensis Rent. = O. mascula L. var. olivetorum Gren. This 

 seems to be the form of 0. mascula which grows on the littoral on wooded 

 slopes. April-June. Leaves not spotted, oblong-lanceolate, bracts purplish, 

 i-nerved ; lip almost equally 3-lobed. Spur as long as the ovary. Flowers 

 magenta coloured, spotted, in a lax spike. Ardoino said this plant is more like 

 a red-flowered 0. provincialis than the true O. mascula, which is sub-Alpine 

 in the south. 



O. mascula L. " Early purple Orchis." Plant 9-20 in. Leaves oblong- 

 lanceolate obtuse, usually spotted with brown. Flowers reddish-purple in an oval 

 rather loose spike. Bracts 1-3 nerved ; lip coloured, often downy in centre, spotted, 

 3-lobed, the middle lobe emarginate. Spur ascending, club-shaped, as long as 

 the ovary. 



Mountain woods, not on the littoral, but at Sainte-Baume, La Bastide, 

 Mont de la Chens and further east. April-May. 



O. laxiflora Lam. (Plate XXIX). Tubers globose. Plant 1-2 ft. high. 

 Leaves lanceolate, acute. Bracts with 5-7 nerves, shorter than ovary. Flowers 

 far apart, in a long loose spike, dark purple without spots, but frequently with 

 a white blotch on the lip. Lip large, 3-lobed, the lateral lobes bent back, middle 

 lobe often wanting or almost so. Spur shorter than ovary. Pollen masses 

 greenish. 



Wet meadows, common. April-June. 



O. palustris Jacq. (Plate XXIX). Differs from the last by its narrower 

 leaves, bracts longer than the ovary ; its middle lobe of the lip larger, and 

 clearly notched, and its paler flowers in a less lax spike. 



