PERAMIUM 119 



as do our hemlocks and pines for the famihar tufts of the 

 Downy and Lesser species of the East. 



The flower scape, which appears in August, looks so 

 much like a stalk of Lady's-Tresses that the very eminent 

 Hooker described it in 1839 as Spiranthes decipiens (Spiran- 

 thes being the old Latin name of the Lady's-Tresses, that 

 has now given way to the older Greek name Gyrostachis). 



The plant is rather stouter and stiffer than either of the 

 other species, but has a fleshy creeping root stalk, provided 

 with thick fibrous roots. It has a downy stalk with bracts, 

 but the down is less marked than in the preceding species. 

 The distinguishing features lie in the leaves and lip of the 

 flower. The leaves are a little larger than in the other 

 species, sometimes being two and one-half inches long; they 

 are sharp pointed at both ends instead of being ovate. 

 They are not nearly so prominently veined as in the other 

 Rattlesnake Plantains. Asa Gray notes that the network 

 effect is sometimes entirely wanting. 



The flower spike is not one-sided, as in the Creeping 

 Rattlesnake Plantain, and the lip of the flower is not 

 rounded into a sac-like pouch, as in both the other species. 

 It is a little swollen at the base and has a long, narrow, 

 recurved point, which offers a white channel to the insect's 

 tongue. In the centre of the flower, which like the others is 

 almost a quarter of an inch long, the anther may be seen 

 projecting from the end of the column like a little beak. 

 This species blooms in August. 



