THE "LIZARD" ORCHIS 



A fine spccinieu of one ot 13ritaiu"s rarest flowers 

 By the REV. H. PUREFOY FITZGERALD, F.L.S. 



THE ■■Lizard" Orchis {Orchis hircina) 

 is one of the rarest of our British 



flowers : as far as I am aware, 

 it has been found in only four of the 

 Enghsh counties, so that it cannot be 

 called a wayside flower, and happy is the 

 botanist that has the good fortune to light 

 upon a growing specimen. I do not intend 

 to give any hints as to where it may be 

 looked for, because in these daj's, when so 

 many of our rarer plants are rapidly 

 becoming extinct, owing to cultivation, 

 building, and the greediness of man\' 

 collectors, it is just 

 as well to keep 

 some things secret, 

 as far as it is pos- 

 sible to do so. 



The photograph 

 depicts well the 

 general shape both 

 of the flower spike 

 and of the individ- 

 ual blossoms. The 

 latter are rather 

 large, the sepals 

 and side petals 

 meet, forming a 

 sort of hood ; these 

 are of a pale green- 

 ish olive colour, 

 with purple spots. 

 The most remark- 

 able point about 

 the flower is the 

 shape and length of 

 the lip or labellum. 

 as it IS called, of one 

 of the petals. This 

 is divided into three 

 segments, two short 

 pointed ones, one 

 on either side, and 

 the middle one 



93 



THE "LIZARD" ORCHIS. 



777 



very long, generally over an inch. In the 

 bud stage, this long lip is coiled spirally — 

 on the flower opening the spiral uncoils 

 to a large extent and becomes undulating ; 

 the end has the appearance of having been 

 bitten off, leaving two or three small 

 teeth. The colour of this long lip is 

 greenish white, with a few purple spots at 

 the base, and pale greenish olive towards 

 the free end. The whole spike of loose 

 flowers varies in length from four to 

 eight inches, the i)lant being from one to 

 two feet in height, it being one of the 

 tallest of our native 

 orchids. The flower 

 emits a somewhat 

 disagreeable scent, 

 which is said to re- 

 semble the smell of 

 goats ver}' strongly. 

 This is the explana- 

 tion of the plant's 

 specific name, hir- 

 c i 11 a (h ircu s, a 

 goat). The descrip- 

 tive name of the 

 •Lizard Orchis" 

 was given to it from 

 the somewhat fan- 

 ciful likeness of this 

 flower, with its 

 long, greenish lip, to 

 this reptile. It is (if 

 no use hunting for 

 this jilant except 

 ill a chalky ilis- 

 tiict. Woods anil 

 meadows in such a 

 locality may chance 

 to produce a few 

 siiecimens : about 

 tlirendof June and 

 during July is the 

 flowering period. 



Doiiiiias l-.Kgiii/i. 



