Spiranthes. 



0RCHIDACE2E. 



283 



bracts ; lateral sepals free ; lip oblong-spatulate, crenulate. — Bigel. fl. Bost. p. 322 {under 

 Neottia, subgenus Spiranthes); Beck, hot. p. 343 {including S. tortilis) ; Hook. ft. B or. - 

 Am. 2. p. 202. t. 203. S. tortilis? & var. gracilis, Darlingt. fl. Cest. p. 501. Neottia 

 tortilis, Pur.sh, fl. 2. p. 589 ; Muhl. cat. p. 80 ; Ell. sk. 2. p. 491 ; Torr. compend (in- 

 cluding var. gracilis) p. 320, not of Swartz. Ophrys aestivalis, Michx. fl. 2. p. 157. 



Root consisting of several fasciculate oblong tubers. Radical leaves spreading, 1 - 1 J 

 inch long, often solitary, acute, varying from ovate to almost lanceolate, often absent, or 

 disappearing very early, so that the plant appears leafless. Scape strong and wiry, but very 

 slender, often flexuous, about a foot high, furnished with 3-6 sheathing acute scales. Spike 

 2-4 inches long, slender and beautifully spiral, the flower sweet-scented, small, white and 

 nearly smooth. Bracts ovate, lanceolate, acuminate, appressed to the flower. Sepals and 

 petals oblong. Lip recurved, nearly sessile ; the margin finely crenulate and waved. Column 

 very short, with a short acumination above the stigma, behind which is placed the anther. 



Meadows and dry open woods : common. July - August. Dr. Darlington finds linear 

 radical leaves in his S. tortilis, but remarks that they mostly wither and disappear before the 

 flowers expand. If that plant is the same as ours, it must be extremely variable as to the 

 form of the leaves ; but he quotes the figure of N. tortilis, Bart. fl. N. Am. t. 35. f. 2, 

 which surely belongs to the following species. 



2. Spiranthes cernua, L. C. Rich, (Plate CXXIX.) Nodding Lady 's-tresses. 



Leaves nearly radical, lanceolate-linear ; scape rather stout, sheathed, the lower sheaths 

 bearing short leaves ; spike dense, the flowers obliquely recurved and cernuous ; lip oblong, 

 obtuse, crisped and crenate. — Lindl. in hot. reg. t. 283 ; Beck, hot. p. 344 ; Darlingt. fl. 

 Cest. p. 501 ; Hook. fl. Bor.-Am. 2. p. 202. Ophrys cernua, Linn. sp. 2. p. 946 ; Michx. 

 fl. 2. p. 158. Neottia cernua, Willd. sp. 4. p. 75 ; Puish. fl. 2. p. 589 ; Bot. mag. t. 1658 ; 

 Bigel. fl. Bost. p. 322 ; Torr. compend. p. 320. N. tortilis, Bart. fl. N. Am. 2. t. 35. f. 2. 



Root consisting of fleshy tubers. Leaves radical or from the lower part of the scape, 3-10 

 inches long and 2-4 lines wide. Scape 8-18 inches high, somewhat succulent, smoothish 

 and obscurely 3-sided below, pubescent above, the lower sheaths usually bearing leaves from 

 one to two inches long. Spike 2-4 inches long, the flowers white or ochroleucous, larger, 

 sweeter scented and more cernuous than in the preceding species, but less numerous. Bracts 

 two-thirds the length of the flower, with a long slender acumination, pubescent. Lateral 

 sepals a little spreading, the upper one closely connivent with the petals and arching. Lip 

 nearly white, conspicuously waved and crenulate, longer than the lateral sepals. Column 

 nearly as in S. gracilis. 



Wet meadows and moist thickets : common. Fl. August - October. I have occasionally 

 found solitary specimens of this plant, nearly three feet high. 



36* 



