94 ENGLISH BOTANY. 



2 oblong or oblong-obovate segments, shorter than and four or five 

 times as broad as the lateral lobes, crenulated at the apex, and usually 

 with a small tooth in the sinus between them ; spur cylindrical, 

 decurved, blunt, about half as long as the ovar3\ 



In copses and open woods. Rarely on open downs on chalky soil. 

 Very local, and apparently confined to the county of Kent. Most plen- 

 tiful in the neighbourhood of Cobham, and between Chatham and 

 Sittingbourne. In 1864 I found a single specimen on the downs 

 between Folkestone and Hythe. It has been reported from Sussex 

 and Lincoln, but these counties require confirmation. 



England. Perennial. Early Summer. 



Eootknobs from the size of a damson plum to that of a pigeon's egg. 

 Stem very stout, 1 to 3 feet high. 



Leaves 3 to 6 inches long by 1^ to 2 inches broad, chiefly radical. 

 Spike 2 to 6 inches. Helmet nearly ^ inch long; labellum f inch, 

 the ground colour varying from nearly white to rosy lilac, thickly 

 spotted with raised dark purple dots. 



The upper part of the spike is nearly black, from the very dark 

 colour of the unexpanded sepals, and even when fully grown these 

 never become white, as in 0. ustulata, though the purple becomes 

 paler, and marked with dark lines. 



Great Dark-winged Orchis. 

 German, Fur^urrothes Knabenhraut, 



SPECIES v.— ORCHIS MILITARIS. "Linn." Jacq. 



Plate MCCCCLn. 



Eekh. Ic. Fl. Germ, et Helv. Vol. Xm. Tab. CCCLXXVl. 



Billot, Fl. Gall, et Germ. Exsicc. No. 3476. 



O. Eivini, Gmian. Beich.fil. 1. c. p. 30. Crep. Man. Fl. Belg. ed. ii. p. 292. 



O. galeata, Lam. B.C. Fl. Fr. Vol. III. p. 249. 



Rootknobs undivided, ovate-ovoid or subglobular. Leaves elliptical- 

 oblong. Flowers in a dense obtuse spike. Bracts about one-fourth 

 the length of the ovary, 1-nerved. Sepals and lateral petals connivent 

 into a lanceolate helmet; the sepals acuminate, acute, white- veined, 

 and sometimes dotted with purple; labellum whitish, shaded with 

 pale purple and dotted with dark purple, 3-lobed, the lateral lobes 

 strapshaped, entire, the middle lobe half as long again as the lateral 

 lobes, divided into 2 oblong-strapshaped segments, shorter than and 

 three or four times as broad as the lateral lobes, and rounded or 

 truncate at the apex, with a conspicuous tooth in the sinus between 

 them ; spur cylindrical, decurved, blunt, about half as long as the ovary. 



