276 



ORCHIDACEiE. 



Platanthera. 



5. Platanthera hyperborea, Lindl. Northern Platanthera. 



Stem leafy ; leaves lanceolate, erect ; spike many-flowered, the lanceolate bracts about as 

 long as the flowers ; sepals ovate, the upper one rather shorter and broader ; lip and petals 

 lanceolate, somewhat equal ; spur thick and obtuse, about half the length of the ovary. — 

 Lindl. Orchid, p. 287 ; Hook. fl. Bor.-Am. 2. p. 197. Orchis hyperborea, Willd. sp. 4. 

 p. 37 1 Pursh, fl. 2. p. 588. Habenaria hyperborea, R. Br. in hort. Kew. (ed. 2.) 5. 

 p. 193; Richards, in Frank, jour. app. (ed. 2.) p. 33 ; Gray in ann. lyc. N. York, I. c. 

 l>. 232. H. dilatata, Torr. compend. p. 318. Platanthera dilatata, Beck, hot. p. 347. 



Root consisting of thick fibres or tubers. Stem varying from 6 or 8 inches to 2 feet or 

 more in height, slender or very stout (sometimes nearly an inch in diameter at the base). 

 Leaves 3-8 inches long, and from half an inch to nearly two inches in breadth. Spike in 

 the smaller and slender forms rather loose and short, in the larger state close and elongated. 

 Bracts gradually diminishing in size towards the top, where they are scarcely as long as the 

 flowers. Petals and sepals greenish yellow. Lip not dilated at the base. Cells of the 

 anther approximated at the base. 



Sphagnous swamps : frequent in the northern and western part of the State. Fl. June - 

 July. P. Huronensis, Lindl. (Orchis Huronensis, Nutt.), is probably not distinct from this 

 species. 



6. Platanthera dilatata, Lindl. Small White- flowered Orchis. 



Stem leafy ; leaves lanceolate ; spike somewhat loosely flowered, cylindrical ; bracts linear- 

 lanceolate, the lower ones about as long as the flowers ; sepals ovate, obtuse ; lip lanceolate- 

 linear, entire, dilated at the base, about as long as the thick obtuse spur. — Lindl. Orchid, 

 p. 287; Hook. fl. Bor.-Am. 2. p. 198? Orchis dilatata, Pursh, fl. 2. p. 588. Habenaria 

 dilatata, Hook. exot. fl. t. 95? Gray, I. c. p. 231. 



Root fasciculated and fleshy. Stem 1-2 feet high, angular. Leaves lanceolate, 4-6 

 inches long, and half to three-fourths of an inch wide, acute. Spike many-flowered, 2-5 

 inches long. Bracts linear-lanceolate, the lower ones often longer than the flowers ; the 

 uppermost much shorter. Flowers white. Upper sepal broader and rather shorter than the 

 lateral ones, which are oblique and spreading or reflexed. Petals linear-lanceolate, connivent 

 with the upper sepal. Lip somewhat rhomboidal-lanceolate. Spur rather shorter than the 

 ovary. Cells of the anther a little distant at the base. 



Sphagnous swamps, in the northern and middle parts of the State. Fl. June - July. 

 With us this and the preceding species seem sufficiently distinct, the latter being easily known 

 by its white flowers, and the lip, which is dilated at the base ; but Sir William Hooker 

 suspects that it is only a form of P. hyperborea, if indeed his plant be the same as ours. 



