32 
The Ohio Naturalist. 
[Vol. X, No. 2, 
Gyrostachys Pers. 
Erect herbs with fleshy fibrous or tuberous roots and slender 
stems or scapes, leafy below or at the base; flowers small, spur- 
less, spiked, 1-3 rowed, the spikes more or less twisted; the lip 
sessile or clawed, concave, erect, embracing the column and often 
adhering to it, bearing minute callosities at the base. 
1 . Flowers apparently in several ranks, stems not twisted, or but slightly 
so 2 
1. Flowers merely alternate, often secund from the spiral twisting of 
the stem 4 
2. Sepals and petals more or less connivent into a hood, leaves linear or 
linear-lanceolate G. stricta 
2. Lateral sepals separate, free 3 
3. Spike short, about 2 in. or less; leaves rather broad, oblong-lanceolate; 
callosities none, or mere thickenings of the basal margins of the 
lip . . . G. plantaginea 
3. Spike long, 3-6 in.; leaves linear to linear-oblanceolate; callosities of 
the lip nipple-shaped G. cernua 
4. Stem leafy lower leaves elongated, outer sepals lanceolate . G. praecox 
4. Stem with scaly bracts, leaves if present basal 5 
5. Root a single tuber; spike about 1-114 in. long G. simplex 
5. Root usually a cluster of tubers; spike 1-3 in. long G. gracilis 
1 . Gyrostachys stricta Rvdb. Hooded Lady’s-tresses. Stem 
6-14 in. high, leafy below, bracted above; leaves 2^-8 in. 
long, linear; flowers in a spike 2-4 in. long, spreading hori- 
zontally; lip oblong, crisped at apex, thin and transparent. 
A bare looking plant, with a loose spike of fragrant flowers, 
growing in bogs. Ashtabula County. 
2. Gyrostachys plantaginea (Raf.) Britt. Wide-leaf Lady's- 
tresses. Stem 4-10 in. high, glabrous or pubescent, 
bearing 4 or 5 lanceolate or oblanceolate leaves below; 
leaves 1-5 in. long; flowers in a thick, dense spike, 1-2 in. 
long, 4-6 lines thick; flowers spreading, white; lip, pale 
yellow on the face, oblong, the wavy apex rounded, crispate 
or fringed, the base short-clawed. A small plant with basal 
leaves, growing on moist banks and in woods, Medina and 
Portage Counties. 
3. Gyrostachys cernua (L.) Ktz. Nodding Lady’s-tresses. Stem 
8-24 in. high (rarelv higher), usually pubescent above, 
bearing 2-6 bract-like stem leaves ; basal leaves from linear- 
oblanceolate to linear, 2jkt-12J4 in. long, the blade narrow; 
flowers in a thick spike, 4-4)/£ in. long, 5-6 lines thick; 
flowers white, nodding or spreading, about 5 lines long; lip 
oblong or ovate, the apex rounded and crisped. A tall 
showy plant with nodding, fragrant flowers, growing in 
meadows and swamps. Erie, Lorain, Cuyahoga, Medina, 
Portage, Stark, Lake, Licking, Fulton, Clermont and 
Gallia Counties. 
4. Gyrostachys praecox (Walt.) Ktz. Grass-leaf Lady’s-tresses. 
Stem, 1U-24 in. high, leafy; leaves linear, 4-12 in. long, with 
narrow grass-like blades and long sheathing petioles, per- 
