493 OECHiDACEffi. \_Cephalanthera. 



and somewhat curved inwards towards the expanded margin of the transverse, 

 roundish-elliptical, nectariferous disc (stigma), which occupies the under side of 

 the column immediately below the anther, and is devoid of any kind of appen- 

 i\nf:e {roslfthi III); an</icr terminal, moveable on the middle lobe of the column, 

 greenish white, ovoido-elliptical or subhemispherical, gibbous, its base resting in 

 a cavity of the latter betwixt its 3 lobes and the stigmatic disk, and thus immedi- 

 ately over this last, 2-celled, the cells erect, parallel, conjoined, imbedded in the 

 substance of the anther, which serves as a connectivuin, the sutures opening in 

 front longitudinally. Pollinia (pollen-masses) white, sublinear, bipartite, curved, 

 without stalks or glands. Pollen farinaceous, slightly cohering. Capsules erect, 

 from 1 to Ih inch in length, oblongo-elliptical or subclavate, straight or a little 

 curved and flattened on the side next the stalk, strongly and obtusely 6-ribbed, 

 crowned with the persistent perianth. 



The flowers of this species resemble buds, and in their form remind one of 

 miniature tulips, or of the blossoms of Magnolia grandifiora when just ready to 

 open. Smith says they are " perfectly inodorous at all limes," but my friend Miss 

 G. E. Kilderbee attributes to both this and C. ensifolia the sweetness of the 

 tuberose. I once thought I perceived some such odour in a large number of spe- 

 cimens of each enclosed in a tin box at night, but the impression was too weak to 

 be trusted to implicitly, and I could never be made sensible of it in individual 

 plants. I am not however in general alive to the fragrance of Spiranthes autum- 

 nalis, so pleasant to most people, nor to that said to reside in the flowers of 

 Linaria repens. which I have witnessed instantly perceived by one who had not 

 previously seen or known the plant by name. 



Cephalanthera ensifolia, Bich. (Narrow-leaved white Helleborine?). — " Between 

 Shanklin and Godshill," Mr. J. Woods, jun., in Bot. Guide (Serapias longifolia). 

 The great confusion of the synonyms betwixt Epipactis pahistris and E. ensifolia 

 of Swartz makes it impossible to determine which of the two species was intended 

 by Mr. Woods under his Serapias longifolia, above referred to, these names being 

 inextricably entangled by Linnaeus, Smith and Hudson, and applied to three 

 several species by one or other of these authors. At this time, when all three are 

 well known and discriminated, it would be useless attempting to undo a knot 

 where nothing certain could be achieved towards ascertaining the point in ques- 

 tion. As C. ensifolia grows intermixed with C. grandifiora in the woods of 

 Hampshire, it may be the species intended by Mr. Woods, but, as the name lon- 

 gifolia has been used to designate our Epipactis palustris by some, and Hudson 

 confounds it with Cephalanthera grandifiora, it is quite as likely that one or other 

 of the two last maybe really pointed at in the old ' Botanist's Guide.' I am 

 inclined to believe rather that C. grandifiora is the one intended, unless the true 

 C. ensifolia were the species really found here by Mr. Woods. 



C. ensifolia occurs abundantly in woods in several parts of the county, and may 

 therefore be herealtcr found on this island, as well as the one just described. It 

 differs from C. grandifiora, to which it bears a close affinity and resemblance, in 

 the following particulars, gleaned from a comparison of an extensive series of both 

 kinds, gathered in their native station, where they are frequently found growing 

 together: — C. ensifolia is a smaller, more delicate and slender plant, with far nar- 

 rower leaves, of a thinner and drier texture, like those of a grass, which however 

 vary much in breadth, the lowermost being sometimes very broadly lanceolate, but 

 the upper always narrow and considerably tapering at the point, and, from being 

 in general more closely set, present a sort of a distichous mode of arrangement in 

 appearance only. The bracts, even beneath the undermost flower, are extremely 

 small, short and narrow, and in those at the top of the stem very minute indeed. 

 The flowers are confined to quite the higher position of the stem, are much closer 

 together or approximate, and are not found in the axils of any but the greatly 

 reduced leaves or bracts ; hence they appear subspical^, like those of Epilobium 

 angnstifolimn for example ; whereas in C. grandifiora the flowers originate at or 

 even below the middle of the stem, and accompany the larger leaves, whence they 



