THE ORCHID FAMILY 
1 59 
perianth uppermost, as neither the seedcase nor the stalk is twisted. The outer perianth-row 
of 3 lobes, which are narrowly lance-shaped, pointed, and of a pale yellow colour, similar to the 
2 lower lobes of the inner row ; these 5 lobes are all turned downwards, in the opposite direction 
to the lip ; the lip (labellum) is large and 3-lobed, the side lobes are small, and the terminal lobe 
large, slightly concave, white with 4 rows of raised purple spots, and with a thick erect spur at the 
base. The column is short and is terminated by a lid-like anther which contains 2 club-shaped 
pollen-masses, which are stalked ; the pollen is pulpy or powdery, more or less coherent ; there 
is no rostellum ; and the seedcase is straight. The stem is 3-10 inches high, usually about 
6 inches, yellowish, and has no green leaves, only a few distant scale-like bracts, and much branched, 
interlacing, thick fleshy roots which resemble coral, very similar to those of the Coral-root 
(Corallorrhiza trifida). 
Very rare. In damp woods, in rotten leaves ; only found once or twice in Herefordshire. August. 
Perennial. 
Tribe V. OPHRYDINE/E. — Anther wholly attached to the column ; pollen-masses stalked ; 
pollen waxy and coherent. 
XII. MAN ORCHID. (AC'ERAS. R. Brown.) — A genus of few species, like the Orchis genus 
except that the lip has no spur. 
Man Orchid. (Ac'eras anthropophora. R. Brown.) — The only British species. A 
plant with a slender spike of strange, small, yellowish flowers ; each with a bract at the base 
shorter than the seedcase ; the 5 similar perianth-lobes form a large hood over the column ; the 
lip is long, narrow, hanging, and is divided into 2 short side lobes, likened to arms, and a long 
central lobe which is divided halfway up into 2 narrow segments and has been compared with 
the body and legs of a man. The whole plant is usually 9 inches to 1 foot high ; the spike 
occupies most of the upper half, and the oblong or egg-shaped leaves are chiefly from the root, 
with intermediate leaf-like sheaths ; the tubers are entire. \Plate 51. 
Rare. In dry places, on chalky soil, in the south-eastern counties. June — July. Perennial. 
XIII. INSECT ORCHID. (OPHRYS. Linn.) — Flowers few, large, stalkless, in a loose spike, 
the lip, which resembles the body of an insect, being turned downwards (inverted), owing to 
the twisting of the seedcase. The bract at the base of each flower is often leafy ; the 3 outer 
perianth-lobes are spreading and are much larger than the 2 inner side ones ; the lip is 
variously lobed, usually very convex and velvety, and not spurred. The column is long ; the 
rostellum is 2-lobed, and projects over the stigma, but not beyond the anther ; the anther, which 
is wholly attached to the face of the top part of the column, is 2-celled, each cell containing a 
stalked pollen-mass attached to a separate gland, each gland being contained in a distinct 
pouch, one in each lobe of the rostellum ; the pollen is waxy and coherent ; the stigma is 
situated immediately below the anther; and the seedcase is twisted. Leafy herbs with roundish 
tubers. 
Lip of the perianth as broad as long, and about the same length as the other perianth-lobes, 
velvety and convex, not spurred. 
(1) Bee Orchid. (Ophrys apif'era.) — Lip 5-lobed, central lobe very small, narrow, pointed, 
reflexed ; column beaked over anther. 
(2) Late Spider Orchid. (6phrys fuciflora.) — Lip 5-lobed, central small lobe heart-shaped, 
flat, bent inwards, green ; column erect, or slightly beaked. 
