Orchis. | LXXXI. ORCHIDACEZ. 443 
back. Lip scarcely longer than the sepals, often slightly downy in the 
centre, reflexed on each side, with 3 short lobes, the middle one the largest 
and more or less notched. 
In moist woods, meadows, and shady places, in central and southern 
Europe, extending eastward to the Caucasus and northward to southern 
Scandinavia. Generally distributed over Britain. Fl. spring and early 
summer. 
5, O. laxiflora, Linn. (fig. 999). Loose Orchis.—Near O. mascula, 
but the leaves are narrow-lanceolate or linear; the flowers rather larger, 
of a rich red, in a much looser spike; the bracts broader and always 
more veined ; and the 8 sepals are spreading or reflexed, the petals alone 
converging over the column. 
In moist meadows, common in southern Europe, extending into central 
Germany and over the greater part of France and Belgium. In the British 
Isles, confined to Jersey and Guernsey and ballast heaps at Hartlepool. 
Fl. spring and early summer. 
6. O. maculata, Linn. (fig. 1000). Spotted Orchis.—Tubers rather 
flat, and divided into 2 or 3 finger-like lobes. Stem usually about a foot 
high. Leaves varying from nearly ovate to narrow-lanceolate, and often 
marked with dark spots. Flowers in a dense oblong spike, 2 or 3 inches 
long, usually of a rather pale pink, but varying much in depth of colour. 
Bracts marked with several veins, the lowest almost always longer than the 
ovary, the upper ones shorter. Sepals about 3 lines long, either all or the 
two lateral ones only spreading, whilst the petals arch over the column, — 
Lip broadly orbicular, either fiat or the sides reflexed, usually more or less 
toothed and irregularly 3-lobed, variously spotted or variegated with a 
deeper colour, the middle lobe usually small, Spur rather slender, a little 
shorter than the ovary. 
In meadows, pastures, and open woods, throughout Europe and Russian 
Asia, from the Mediterranean to the Arctic regions. Abundant in Britain, 
Fl, spring and early summer. It varies very much in the breadth of the 
leaves, the size of the bracts, the colour of the flower, and the shape of the 
lip, sometimes approaching very near to O. latifolia. 
7. O. latifolia, Linn. (fig. 1001). Marsh Orchis.—Very near O. ma- 
culata, and by some botanists considered as a mere variety. It is usually 
more luxuriant, the stem more hollow, the leaves larger and not always 
spotted, the spike longer and more leafy, the lower bracts, and sometimes 
nearly all, as long as or longer than the flowers, the flowers are usually 
deeply-coloured and less variegated, the lip teothed only or very obscurely 
3-lobed, and the spur thicker ; but these characters are none of them quite 
constant. 
With the same geographical range as O. maculata, it is usually found in 
moister situations or richer soils. Frequent in Britain. Jl. spring and 
early summer. A variety with narrow unspotted leaves, more regularly 
tapering from the base, is O. tncarnata, Linn. 
8. O. hircina, Scop. (fig. 1002). Lizard Orchis.—A stout species, 1 
to 5 feet high, with entire tubers and a leafy stem. Spike dense, 4 to 8 
inches long; the flowers rather large, of a dirty greenish-white, with a 
disagreeable smell, and remarkable for their long, linear lip; the 2 lateral 
lobes short, the middle one more than an inch long, rolled inwards in the 
