OECHIDACE^. (orchis FAMILY.) 509 



11. BL:IE:TIA, Emz&Pavon. Bletia. 



Sepals spreading, equal, rather exceeding the petals. Lip hooded, hinged as 

 it were with the column, crested along the upper face, often 3-lobed. Col- 

 umn half-cylindrical ; the fleshy anther forming a lid at its apex. Pollen-masses 

 8, in pairs, with a stalk to each pair, waxy, becoming powdery. — Scape many- 

 flowered from solid tubers. (Named for Louis Blet, a Spanish botanist.) 



1. B. aph^lla, Nutt. Leafless; scape (l°-2° high) beset with purplish 

 scales, the lower ones sheathing; flowers racemed, brownish-purple; lip not 

 Baccate. Rich woods, Kentucky and southward. 



12. MICR6STYLIS, Nutt. Addee's-Mouth. 



Sepals spreading. Petals thread-like or linear, spreading. Lip auricled or 

 ovate at the base, not tubercled, entire or nearly so. Column very small, terete, 

 with 2 teeth or auricles at the summit and the erect anther between them. Pol- 

 len-masses 4, in one row (2 in each cell), cohering by pairs at the apex, waxy, 

 without any stalks, threads, or gland. — Little herbs, from solid bulbs, produ- 

 cing simple stems or scapes, which bear in our species a single leaf, and a raceme 

 of minute greenish flowers. (Name composed of )UKp6s, little, and trrvXts, a 

 column or stt/le. ) 



1. M. monoph^llos, Lindl. Slender (4' -6' high); leaf sheathing the 

 base of the stem, ovate-elliptical ; raceme spiked, long and slender ; pedicels not 

 hmger than the flowers ; lip long-pointed. — Cold wet swamps, N. New England 

 to Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and northward. July. (Eu. ) 



2. M. opllioglossoldes, Nutt. Leaf near the middle of the stem, ovate, 

 clasping ; raceme short and obtuse ; pedicels much longer than the flowers ; lip 3- 

 toothed at the summit. — Damp woods : more common southward. July. 



13. LIFABIS, Richard. Twatblade. 



Sepals and petals nearly equal, linear, or the latter thread-like, spreading. 

 Lip flat, entire, often bearing 2 tubercles above the base. Column elongated, 

 incurved, margined at the apex. Anther lid-like, terminal : pollen-masses 4, in 

 one row (2 to each cell), slightly united in pairs, without stalk, threads, or 

 gland. — Small, low herbs, with solid bulbs, producing 2 root-leaves and a low 

 scape, which bears a raceme of few purplish or greenish flowers. (Name from 

 \vi!ap6s,flit or shining, in allusion to the smooth or unctuous leaves.) 



1. Ii. Iiliif61ia, Richard. Leaves ovate; petals thread-like, reflexed ; lip 

 large (^' long) wedge-obovate, ahruptiy short-pointed, brou-n-purplish. (Malaxis lilii- 

 folia, Swartz.) — Moist woodlands : commonest in the Middle States. June. 



2. L. Zices^lii, Richard. Leaves elliptical-lanceolate or oblong, keeled ; 

 lip obovate or oblong (2" long), mucronate, yellowish-green, shorter than the linear 

 unequal petals and sepals. (Malaxis Correkna, Barton.) — Bogs, New England 

 to Penn., Wisconsin, and northward : rare. June. (Eu.) 



14. COBAZiLOBHJCZA, Haller. Coral-boot. 



Perianth somewhat ringent, oblique and gibbous or obscurely spurred at the 

 base ; the oblong or lanceolate sepals and petals nearly alike, the upper arching ; 



