XI 

 LEPTORCHIS 



TWAYBLADE 



There is still another genus to which the popular name 

 Twayblade, or Two-leaf, is given. It is the genus familiarly 

 known to orchid hunters in the days before the new nomen- 

 clature, as Liparis. The older Greek name Leptorchis 

 means a slender orchis. 



The characteristic sign of our species is a pair of oval 

 shining leaves, which rise from the root, clasping the stem. 

 They are larger than the leaves of the other Twayblades 

 in the genus Listera and could not be mistaken for them, as 

 in that genus they are born half way up the stem, and at 

 right angles to it, while in this they form large loose sheaths 

 at the stem's base. 



The root is a round, solid bulb, with a few fibres attached. 

 It sends off a large offshoot which is the bud of a new 

 plant. 



The effect of the plant is of a crisp, stiff, rather coarse 

 little herb, with yellowish green flowers, whose real beauty 

 does not strike the observer until he has examined it with the 

 magnifying glass. Then he will find a slender flower whose 

 sepals and petals are nearly all reduced to narrow straps or 



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