THE ORCHID WORLD. 
9 
RARE NATIVE ORCHIDS. 
By A. D. WEBSTER. 
The Irish Spiranth (Spiranthes Roman- 
zoviana). Unless in a few stations in Ireland 
this plant has been found nowhere else in 
Europe, its nearest recorded habitat being a 
few of the cold, upland bogs of North 
America. Exactly one hundred years ago it 
was discovered by a Mr. Drummond in a little 
meadow at Bantry Bay in the South of 
Ireland. In 1886 the meadow was ploughed 
up and planted with potatoes and it was then 
thought that the plant had been lost to our 
flora. Since that time, however, it has been 
discovered in the extreme North of Ireland, 
in at least two stations. Specimens of the 
plant were sent to me from Cork in 1885, 
from Londonderry in 1905, and this season 
from the adjoining county of Donegal. 
The Summer Spiranth (Spiranthes 
aestivalis) is another rare orchid, of which I 
had living specimens sent me from a new 
station near Chislehurst, but I much fear that 
building operations have put an end to its 
existence as a Kentish plant. From only 
two other counties in England has it been 
recorded, though it is found in the Channel 
Islands. 
The Lizard Orchid (Orchis hircina). This 
plant is also extremely rare though still found 
in a few stations in Kent. It is, however, 
not at all likely to become extinct, for the 
specimens which I saw both this and last 
year were remarkably strong though the 
plants were few in number and growing in 
positions to which the general public are not 
admitted. It is a curious fact, well known to 
a few, that this orchid has been found at a 
specified distance from the old Roman road 
at several points along its tract ; this is 
accounted for by the introduction of the plant 
from Norway by a well-known Kentish 
botanist who planted it at various points 
along and at the same distance from this 
ancient highway. 
VOL. I. 
The Brown Man Orchid (Orchis fusca). 
I have only seen this rare and beautiful plant 
once in a truly wild state. It was growing 
in chalky soil outside the boundary of a 
coppice wood in Kent, but there were several 
specimens and the individual plants were 
strong and floriferous. It is a pretty species 
and is readily cultivated as a garden plant. 
The Coralroot Orchid (Corallorhiza 
innata) is another rare orchid, which has a 
few stations in Scotland, from one of which 
I received specimens, but the plantation in 
which it was found was cut down, and though 
a number of plants were carefully transferred 
to an adjoining wood success did not crown 
the efforts to establish this rare orchid in its 
new quarters. 
The Lady's Slipper (Cypripedium 
calceolus) is almost if not quite extinct in a 
truly wild state ; while Epipogium Gmelinii 
is, too, probably extinct in the one station 
from which it was recorded. 
?J 
With a view to encourage interest in the 
study of botany the authorities of the 
Brighton Museum invite, each year, the public 
to send contributions of wild flowers which 
have been collected in Sussex. Mr. T. Hilton, 
I, Clifton Street, Brighten, who takes a great 
interest in this affair, kindly sends the follow- 
ing note : — 
" In the last two years we have exhibited 
the following orchidaceous plants which have 
been gathered in Sussex : — Neottia nidusavis, 
Listera ovata, Spiranthes autumnalis, Cepha- 
lanthera ensifolia, C. pallens, Epipactis lati- 
folia. Orchis pyramidalis, O.ustulata, O.morio, 
O. mascula, O. latifolia, O. maculata, O. erice- 
torum, Ophrys apifera, O. aranifera, O. musci- 
fera, Herminium monorchis, Habenaria conop- 
sea, H. viridis, H. bifolia, H. chlorantha." 
" Aceras anthropophora was also exhibited 
this year, but I am not sure that it was 
gathered in Sussex." 
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