478 ORCHiDACE.E. [Orcliis. 



iiate, blight grass-green above, and generally but not invariably cnveved with 

 spots or blotches of purplish black, pale silvery or. grayish green beneath, with 

 several filiform parallel ribs, the two lowermost ribs approximate, unequal in size 

 and more or less spreading, oblong, obovato-oblong or obovato-elliptical, very 

 rounded and obtuse or slightly pointed, upper leaves elongalo-lanceolate. Bracts 

 one under each flower, linear-lanceolate, acuminate, their margins .finely cartila- 

 ginous-serrulate, 3-nerved, the 2 lateral nerves obscure, lower bracts much longer 

 than the germen, those higher up about equal to the latter or even shorter. 

 Flowers in a dense, oblong-conical, obtuse, cylindrical and terminal spike, from 

 1 or 2 to 6 or 7 inches long, varying from palish purple or rose-colour to nearly 

 pure white. Sepals oblong or oblong-lanceolate, patent, faintly 3-nerved, the 2 

 lateral sepals oblique and ascending, mostly hooded at their apex. Two upper 

 pcta/s ovate, obtuse, connivent, and forming a hood over the anther; lower petal 

 (lip) obcordato-rotundate, 3-lobed, flat or with the lateral lobes deflexed even on 

 the same plant, the disk and base streaked and spotted with purple in various 

 ways, in the white variety very faintly marked or immaculate ; two outer lobes 

 mostly rounded, crenate and erose, at other times acute and diverging, with a very 

 deep sinus between them and the centre lobe, which is commonly much smaller, 

 oblong or ovate, obtuse or slightly pointed, and considerably longer than the rest, 

 sometimes however only equal lo the the lateral lobes, or even shorter and truncate. 

 This and the following species bear a strong resemldance to each other, and the 

 specific characters, as usually laid down, are not suSiciently discriminative. The 

 bracteas of O. maculata are commonly slated to be shorter than the germen, but 

 I find, as Dr. Johnston has also remarked (Fl. of Berwick-upon-Tweed), that they 

 are as often quite equal to the latter and even exceed them in length, though not 

 so much produced as in O. latifolia. The flower-spikes in O. maculata are more 

 tapering or pyramidal than those of O. latifolia, in which they are rather cylin- 

 drical and obtuse. The lower lip in the first of these species has the middle lobe 

 equal to the two somewhat crenate lateral ones, not produced beyond them ; in O. 

 latifolia the central lobe visibly exceeds the lateral ones, which last are very entire 

 and rounded in their outline. The spur in O. maculata Is far more slender, and 

 tapers off almost to a point, not terminating very abruptly as in O. latifolia. 



5. O. latifolia, L. Marsh Palmate Orchis. Spike cylindrical 

 obtuse, bracteas rather longer than the flowers, lip 3-lobecl, cen- 

 tral lobe produced bej^ond the two lateral ones which are rounded 

 and nearly entire, spur subcylindrical bluntish shorter than the 

 germen. Br. Fl. p. 421. E. B. t. 2308. 



/3. angustifolia. See Bab. Manual. 



In low, moist, marshy or boggy places, woods, meadows and pastures; pretty 

 frequent, though much less common than the foregoing. Fl. May — July. H-. 



E. Med. — Sandown marshes ; near Shanklin and Appuldurcombe. Wet mea- 

 dows about Newchurch. [Marshy field at the top of Brading harbour, A. G. 

 More, Esq., Edrs.] 



W. Med. — Common in meadows about Thorley. Boggy ground below Cal- 

 bourne mill. Abundant in Easton marsh, and in boggy meadows at Freshwater 

 gate. Common in the great plantation of fir, beech, &c., at Westover. 



j3. Boggy ground by the Wilderness, 1844. 



A handsome species, with a dense spike of purple or sometimes nearly white 

 flowers. Root of 2 irregularly palmate tubers, with several long thick fibres. 

 Stem erect, hollow, somewhat angular, I — 2 feet high, lealy, green or purplish. 

 Leaves closely sheathing, ovato-lanceolate, sometimes very large and broad, plain 

 or more rarely spotted with black, upper ones narrow like the bracteas. Spike 

 dense, many-flowered, cylindrical, abrupt, 4 or 5 inches long. Bracteas longer 

 than the flowers, the lowermost much more so than the rest, purplish, single- 

 ribbed. Flowers various shades of rose-red, crimson or purple, more rarely white. 

 Sepals coloured, the two outer ascending and spreading, the middle one incumbent 

 on the 2 connivent lateral petals that enclose the anther; all equal, ovate, blunt 



