THE MARSH HELLEBORINE— continued. 
the successive annual shoots form a sympodial series, each ending in a terminal 
flower-spike ( ' acranthous ) ; and the pollen is somewhat loosely granular, the pollinia 
having no caudicles. The genus Epipactis is characterised by a leafy stem, twisted 
pedicels to the flowers, a straight ovary, an elastically hinged terminal lobe to the 
labellum, and the presence of two distinct linear petaloid staminodes — representing 
stamens of the inner whorl — one on either side of the column. 
While several other species of the genus are fairly uniform and not very brilliant 
in the colouring of their blossoms, being often greenish or only tinged with red, the 
pretty Marsh Helleborine, which is often described as Epipactis palustris Crantz, is 
more gaily adorned. It seldom exceeds a foot in height : its long, narrow-pointed 
leaves give it the specific name it now bears : its sepals are green striped with red, 
and its petals white with a similar striping. 
In physiology, however, there is greater discordance among Orchids than 
there is in floral plan. Leaving on one side the vast variety of epiphytic forms 
which adorn the boughs of lofty trees in the moist air of the Tropical jungle, we 
have, among terrestrial forms, the few brown saprophytic species, such as the Bird’s- 
nest Orchid, and other less marked differences in habit. Many species, including 
most of the British representatives of the genus Epipactis , inhabit shallow beds of 
humus on a warm, dry, and generally calcareous sub-soil. Not a few, however, 
including the leafless saprophytic Coral-root ( Corallorhiza trifida Chatelain), the local 
Malaxis and Liparis , the rare Summer Lady’s Tresses ( Spiranthes aestivalis Richard), 
and Epipactis longifolia, live in bogs or marshy places, sometimes among the Bog- 
mosses [Sphagnum). Whilst this last occurs in swamps on a limestone sub-soil, 
associated with Yellow Meadow-rue, Globe-flower, Marsh Marigold, Meadow-sweet, 
Grass of Parnassus, Primula farinosa , Jacob’s-ladder, etc., it is also found in the alkaline 
waters of the fens of our eastern counties with Ragged Robin, Marsh Pennywort, 
Bog-bean, and Bladderworts. It would be interesting to have more precise knowledge 
as to its methods of nutrition, how far, for instance, it utilises humus. 
