Orchis. 



ORCHIDACE^E. 



273 



lanceolate : spur thick and clavate, a little shorter than the ovate entire lip, and about the 

 length of the ovary. — Linn. sp. 2. p. 943; Pursh, fl. 2. p. 587; Nutt. gen. 2. p. 189; 

 Hook. exot. fl. p. 69 ; Ell. sk. 2. p. 487 ; Bigel. fl. Bost. p. 320 ; Torr. compend. p. 316 ; 

 Beck, hot. p. 347 ; Lindl. Orchid, p. 267 Darlingt. fl. Cest. p. 505 ; Hook. fl. Bor.-Am. 2. 

 p. 195. O. humilis, Michx. fl. 2. p. 155. Habenaria spectabilis, Spreng. syst. 2. p. 689. 



Root consisting of a few thick fleshy fibres or tubers. Leaves usually two, 3-5 inches 

 long and 2-3 inches wide, sometimes nearly orbicular, of a bluish green, narrowed at the 

 base but hardly petiolate. Scape acutely 5-angled, 4-7 inches high, naked, or sometimes 

 furnished with a leaf which is smaller than the radical ones. Spike 4 - 6-flowered ; the 

 flowers large. Bracts usually longer, but sometimes shorter than the flowers. Sepals and 

 petals connivent and vaulted, of a violet purple color. Lip and spur white. Spur obtuse. 

 Stalks of the pollen as long as the masses. 



Woods, in rich vegetable mould : frequent. Fl. May. 



7. GYMNADENIA. R. Brown in hort. Kew. (ed. 2.) 5. p. 191 ; Lindl. Orchid, p. 275. 



GYMNADENIA 



[From the Greek, gymnos, naked, and aden, a gland.] 



Lip with a spur at the base. Glands of the stalks of the pollen-masses naked, approximated. 

 — Habit that of Orchis. 



1. Gymnadenia tridentata, Lindl. Three-toothed Gymnadenia. 



Lower leaf oblong, rather obtuse, upper leaves much smaller ; flowers few, in a short 

 oblong spike ; lip cuneate-oblong, 3-toothed at the apex ; sepals and petals oblong-ovate, 

 obtuse, as long as the lip ; spur filiform-clavate, incurved, longer than the ovary. — Lindl. 

 Orchid, p. 227; Hook. fl. Bor.-Am. 2. p. 195. Orchis tridentata, Willd. sp. 4. p. 41 ; 

 Pursh, fl. 2. p. 587 ; Bart. fl. N. Am. 1. t. 15 ; Torr. compend. p. 317. Habenaria tri- 

 dentata. Hook. exot. fl. p. 81 ; Beck, hot. p. 348; Darlingt. fl. Cest. p. 507. Orchis 

 clavellata, var. tridentata, Muhl. cat. p. 80 ; Nutt. gen. 2. p. 189. O. clavellata, Ell. sk. 2. 

 p. 505. 



Root consisting of a few thick fleshy fibres. Stem 8-12 inches high, slender, angular. 

 Principal leaf situated near the base, 3-4 inches long and three-fourths of an inch wide, 

 tapering at the base ; the other leaves much smaller, lanceolate and bract-like. Spike 6-12- 

 flowered, rather compact. Flowers pale yellowish green. Bracts ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, 

 shorter than the ovary. Sepals and petals nearly alike, about 2 lines long. Lip with 3 short 

 equal teeth at the apex. 



Moist shady places, and swamps : rather rare. Fl. July. If Orchis clavellata of Michaux 

 be only a variety of this plant with the lip entire, its specific name ought (being the older one) 

 to have been adopted when it was removed to another genus. This plant is, as Hooker 

 remarks, a doubtful congener of G. conopsea, Rich. 

 [Flora — Vol. 2.] 35 



