The Marsh Orchis 



(ORCHIS LATIFOLIA) 



A LARGE number of Orchids are to be found in the Alps. 

 They form a well-defined group of plants which are particu- 

 larly interesting in view of complicated devices which they 

 have adopted to ensure the fertilisation of their seeds by the 

 agency of insect visitors. Nearly all the English species are 

 found in Switzerland, and most of them are met with in 

 much greater abundance there. The beautiful pink Helle- 

 borine, the sweet-scented Butterfly Orchis, may be found in 

 profusion on the lower mountain slopes, and the dark red 

 Nigritella, with its odour of vanilla, and the ghost-like 

 Coral-root, in the higher regions. 



Of the genus Orchis alone there are no less than seven- 

 teen Swiss species. Many of these are much alike, and by 

 no means easy to distinguish from one another. One of the 

 most abundant is the Marsh Orchis, which is also met with 

 in England, but is not nearly so common there. The plant 

 grows in damp meadows and boggy places, where an average 

 sized plant may be 18 inches or two feet high. Its large 

 purple spotted flowers appear in June and may last until July. 



The methods adopted by the plant to ensure the fertilisa- 

 tion of its flowers by means of insect visitors are most 

 elaborate and exact, but without the aid of diagrams they 

 are a little difficult to explain. It is curious that no honey 



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