492 
GYNANDRIA MONANDRIA. 
cundis; Iabello trifido, I lip three-cleft, crenu- 
crenulato. I late. 
Sp. pi. 4. p. 74. Pursh, 2. p. 589. Nutt. 2. p. 190. 
Limodorum Praecox, Walt. p. 221. 
Ophrys iEstivalis, Mich. 2, p. 157. 
Roots tuberous, creeping. Stem eight to twelve inches high, pubescent 
towards the summit. Leaves of the stem subulate, acute, scarcely more than 
scales; of the root linear lanceolate, nine to ten inches long, generally de- 
caying before the plant begins to flower. Flowers in a compact spiral 
spike. Bracteal leaves pubescent, nearly as long as the flower. Segments 
of the perianth white, connivent, nearly equal in length. The lip cren- 
ulate, indistinctly lobed. 
Grows in damp soils. 
Flowers through the summer. 
2. Cernua. 
N. foliis Ianceolatis, 
trinervibus; caule va- 
ginato, spica oblonga 
densiflora; floribus re- 
curvato cernuis; label- 
lo oblongo, integerri- 
mo, acuto. 
Leaves lanceolate, 
3-nerved; stem sheath- 
ed; spike oblong, 
densely flowered; flow- 
ers recurved, nodding; 
lip oblong, entire, a- 
cute. 
Sp. pi. 4. p. 75. Pursh, 2. p. 589. Nutt. 2. p. 190. 
Limodorum Autumnale, Walt. p. 221. 
Ophrys Cernua, Mich. 2. p. 158. 
Very similar to the preceding species, from which it differs by a more 
crowded spike, and by larger flowers. 
This genus merits in this country a farther examination. The number of 
varieties distinguished by the size of the flowers, by the extended or con- 
tracted spires of the spike, by the period of flowering, would lead to a sus- 
picion that we had many species, but in the occasional examinations I have 
given them, I have been able to discover no permanent distinctions. 
Grows in damp soils. 
Flowers through the summer. 
