LXXXIX. OKCIIIDACEiE. 
425 
St ra tiotcs.'] 
Ditches and ponds in England and Ireland, Not wild in Scotland. 
y .. 7,8. — Floating, and sending down long radicles from its hori- 
zontal stems. Leaves petioled, reniform, entire. Flowers subum- 
bellate, large, white, delicate, arising from pellucid membranous 
spathas. 
3. Stkatiotes Linn. Water- Soldier. 
Dioecious. Spatha 2-leaved, stalked. — Barren fl. numerous 
in the spatha. Perianth 6-parted. Stam. 12 — 13, surrounded 
by 23—24 imperfect linear ligulate ones. — Fertile fl. solitary in 
each spatha. Tube of the perianth not longer than the ovary; 
limb 6-parted. Sterile stamens numerous. Stigmas 6, linear, 
bifid. Fruit baccate, 6-celled, many-seeded. — Leaves sessile, 
radical, crowded, narrow . — Name: arpaTiwrys, a soldier; on 
account of the numerous sword-like leaves. 
1. S. aloides L. (Water- Soldier) ; leaves sword-shaped trian- 
gular aculeate-serrate. E. B. t. 379. 
Lakes and ditches, particularly common in the fenny parts of Nor- 
folk and Lincolnshire. Rare in the north : planted in the Lochs of 
Duddingston, Forfar, and Cluny, Scotland. V.. 7. — A singular 
plant, with numerous radical leaves, thrown up from creeping runners, 
which penetrate far into the mud. Scape 4 — 6 inches long, compressed, 
2-edged. Flowers white, from a compressed 2-leaved spatha. The 
flowers are dioecious, but sometimes the stamens on the fertile flower 
become perfect. 
Ord. LXXXIX. ORCHID ACEJE. 
Perianth of 6 segments in 2 rows, mostly coloured ; one, the 
lowest (so situated from the twisting of the ovary), usually 
differing in form from the rest and often spurred. Stamens 3, 
united with the style in a central column, the two lateral ones 
usually abortive, or sometimes the central one (in Cypripedium). 
Anther often deciduous, 2-, 4-, or 8-celled. Pollen powdery or 
waxy, cohering in masses. Ovary 1 -celled, with 3 parietal 
receptacles. Ovules anatropal. Style forming part of the 
column with the stamens. Stigma a viscid space in front of the 
column. Capsule (rarely a berry ) 3-valved. Seeds numerous ; 
testa loose, reticulate. Albumen 0. Embryo solid, fleshy, 
orthotropal ; radicle next the hilum. — Herbaceous plants, 
the terrestrial species having often knob-like roots. Many 
tropical species are epiphytes. Flowers generally handsome, 
in spikes or racemes. — The knobs of several species afford 
salep. The fragrant vanilla is the seed-vessel of Vanilla 
aromatica. 
