NATURAL HISTORY QUERIES 
177 
described in systematic floras as annuals, while, as a matter of fact, they are, 
without exception 1 think, biennials, strictly speaking, because they pass the 
winter as immature plants. It would seem, however, that there is no hard 
and fast distinction between annuals and biennials, since the .same species is 
sometimes one and sometimes the other, accordinjj to whether its seeds are 
dropped early in the season or late, dependent on weather conditions. 
HaU End, Chingjord. C. XlCHOI.SON. 
544. Orchis or Orchids ?— Mr. Hastie asks, incidentally (Xo. 524 ), 
Why will people keep calling an orchis “ an oichid? .May I retort, courteously. 
Who says they do ? Every Orchis is an orchid, but every orchid is not an 
Orchis, as Mr. Hastie could have ascertained from any average dictionary. The 
term “orchid” is English, and applicable to any individual of any species 
belonging to the order Orchidcic ; hence one may speak of a Habenaria, an 
Ophrys, a Dendrobium, or an Orchis as an orchid. On the other hand, the 
term “orchis” is pure (ireek, and scientifically only applicable strictly to a 
member of the genus Orchis; hence the Spotted Orchis really means that 
particular member of the genus Orchis, which is distinguished by spots and 
called scientifically Orchis macnlata. The phrase “Bee Orchis” is incorrect, 
as there is no member of the genus Orchis resembling a bee in any way ; the 
correct English name is therefore “ Bee Orchid.” h'urther, as an example, 
the Marsh Helleborine {Epipaclis palustris) may be called an orchid correctly, 
but not an orchis. I am aware that these remarks will not be borne out by 
some systematic botanies and floras I could name, but the English nomen- 
clature in such books is often inconsistent and leaves a good deal to be desired. 
HaU End, Chingford. C. NICHOLSON. 
545. Orchids. — In reference to the appearance of bee orchids reported 
in August Nature Notes by M. J. T., two or three years ago I discovered 
quite a quantity of Globe-flowers in a meadow not far from here. I had never 
seen them before nor since. I happened to be in Oswestry one day about the 
same time, and I saw an old woman seated in the station there with a bunch 
of these lovely flowers, and when I asked her where she got them, she said 
they grew near her house, but she had never seen them bloom since she was a 
girl, and was quite pathetic over it t 1 feel sure the explanation in both cases 
is that the meadows being invariably grazed the cattle had kept them down. 
I should like to suggest to M. J. T. that that may probably explain why the 
orchids appeared in Surrey. F. L. R. 
Ehyl, North IfUiUs. 
[Our correspondent’s suggestion is a good one. Tulipa sylvestris is similarly 
recorded from Sluswell Hill in the “ Flora of Middlese.x ’ as always cut with the 
hay.— Ed. N.N.I 
546 May Blossom. — May blossom was still to be seen in the hedges on 
June 30. 
South-acre, Swaffham. Edmund Thos. Daubeny. 
NATURAL HISTORY QUERIES. 
128 . Abnormal Carrot. — A friend of mine found, a few days ago, a curious 
specimen of wild carrot between Sanderstead and Warlingham. The whole of 
the florets were of a dark red colour. The outer umbels had grown up irregularly 
an inch and more above the inner ones. This must have been a sport, although 
we know that the outer umbels always grow slightly above the inner ones, giving 
the whole a slightly hollow appearance when in flower and a rather greater one 
when in seed. But the different colour of the florets looks like a separate species, 
although I can find no mention of it in any botanical book. May I ask whether 
this coloured-flowering carrot is not a great rarity, or is it met with often ? 
Hampstead, Peter Hastie. 
August 20. 
[We can find no record of such a variation. — Ed., N.N.] 
