CLASS XX. ORDER I. 345 



358. NEOTTIA. 



^ Subgenus Spiranthes. Spike twisted, pollen granular. 

 * Neottia gracilis. Slender Neottia. 



N. foliis radicalibus ovatis ; scapo vag-lnato, Jloribiis 

 spij'aliter seamdis ; labello obovato, crispo. 



Leaves radical, ovate: scape sheathing; flowers in 

 a spiral row; lip obovate, curled. 



Root fascicled. Leaves radical, on short petioles, ovate, acute, 

 nerved, caducous. Scape erect, slender, eight to twelve inches 

 high with a few sheathing scales orleafets. Flowers white in a 

 twisted spike. Bractes closely applied to the gervn, ovate, acu- 

 minate. Germs obovate. Petals linear, crystalline, parallel, 

 the three upper ones cohering. Lip obovate-spatulate, curled, 

 its base swelling with the lateral petals connected before it. 

 Anther parallel to the style. — In dry, hilly woods. — July. — Pe- 

 rennial. 



The leaves falling off frequently cause the plant to appear leaf- 

 less at the time of flowering. 



Variety /?, secunda. Spike unilateral, hardly twisted; flowers 

 more slender. Perhaps a difierent species. — In Conway, New 

 Hampshire. — July. 



Neottia cernua. Willd. Drooping Neottia. Ladies' 



Traces. 



Leaves lanceolate, three nerved ; stem sheathed ; 

 flowers recurved-drooping ; lip oblong, entire, acute. 

 Willd. 

 Syn. Ophrts cernua. L. 



This plant is also distinguished, like several others of its genus, 

 by the spiral arrangement of its flowers. Lower leaves very 

 long, linear-lanceolate, nerved. Stem round, somewhat fleshy, 

 invested with short, alternate, leafy sheaths; pubescent at top. 

 Spike dense, oblong. Flowers curving, downward, of a dull 

 white color. Germs ovate. Petals pubescent. Lip of the nec- 

 tary minutely crenulate, somewhat acute. — In moist ground. — 

 August, September. — Perennial. 



