266 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS 



GYMNADENIA R.Br. 



Tubers 2 or more lobed. Sepals spreading. Lip long, spurred, 

 recurved or deflexed. Anther-cells parallel. Pollen-glands remote, 

 linear. 



Gymnadenia albida Rich. (Plate XXXI.) 



Tubers deeply divided palmately. Lobes cylindrical or tapering. 

 Stem leafy, 4-10 inches high. Lower leaves obovate-lanceolate ; 

 upper leaves lanceolate, often small, sheathing. Spike cylindrical, 

 dense, slender, and often slightly unilateral. Bracts 3-nerved, 

 about as long as ovary. Perianth very small, yellowish white, 

 slightly fragrant. Segments obtuse, all 5 connivent into an ovate 

 helmet. Lip 3-lobed, lobes tongue-shaped, acute, the middle one 

 broadest. Spur directed upwards, half or one-third length of ovary. 



Meadows, pastures, margins of woods, and among debris in the 

 Alps and lower Alps from 3000-7000 feet, both on limestone and 

 slate. June to August. 



Distribution. Carpathians ; Eastern, Central, and Western Alps ; 

 Black Forest, Vosges, Pyrenees, Cevennes ; Central and Northern 

 Europe, Greenland. British. 



Gymnadenia conopsea L. 



Tubers palmately divided. Stem leafy, 12-18 inches high. 

 Leaves lanceolate or linear-lanceolate, upper ones often very small, 

 sheathing. Spike cylindrical, dense-flowered. Bracts 3-nerved, 

 about as long as ovary. Lip 3-partite. Lobes nearly alike, obtuse, 

 or the middle one acute. Spur filiform, bent downwards, ij to 

 twice the length of ovary. Remaining perianth-segments obtuse, 

 the 3 upper ones approximate, forming a helmet, the 2 lateral 

 spreading or reflexed. Very variable both in colour of flowers and 

 size of the separate parts. Usually rose-coloured, lighter or darker, 

 or various shades of purple or mauve, rarely white, with slight scent 

 of vanilla. 



Alpine and sub-alpine pastures, often in great quantities, and 

 also in the plains. June, July. 



Distribution. Most of Europe ; Western and Northern Asia. 

 British. 



Gymnadenia odoratissima Rich. (Plate XXXI.) 



Very similar to certain forms of the last, but the leaves are 

 narrower, the spike often more slender, the lip narrow, and the spur 

 straighter and shorter. (The drawing depicts an unusually long- 

 spurred form.) The flowers are strongly scented of vanilla, and 

 rather smaller than in conopsea. The two species are often found 

 together, and occasionally hybridise. 



Hills, damp meadows, etc., to the Alpine region. June, July. 



Distribution. Carpathians, Alps ; Central and Northern Europe 

 as far as Sweden. 



