On Habenari-orchis viridi-maculata, Rolfe, 
hyb. nat. 
BY 
R. A. ROLFE, A.L.S. 
Assistant , Herbarium , Royal Gardens , Kew . 
With Plate XVIII. 
T HE subject of the present note is an extremely interesting 
plant which was sent to Kew for determination by Cecil 
H. Spencer Perceval, Esq., Longwitton Hall, Morpeth, in July 
1891. It was found in a field at Longwitton, Northumberland, 
on the west side of Trench New Plantation (or Spencer’s Planta- 
tion) in July 1891, together with Orchis incarnata , O. maculata , 
Habenaria viridis , H. chlorantha , H. bifolia , and Lister a ovata. 
That it was none of these species, nor indeed any other British 
one, was at once apparent, and on careful examination it was 
seen to be so precisely intermediate between Habenaria viridis 
and Orchis maculata , or, more correctly speaking, perhaps, to 
present such an unmistakable combination of the characters 
of these two species, as to leave no doubt that it was a natural 
hybrid between them. How far this is the case may be seen 
in the annexed careful drawing by Miss Smith (Plate XVIII). 
Fig. 1 shows the hybrid, and Figs. 2 and 3 its supposed parents. 
In general shape, the flower of the hybrid bears a considerable 
resemblance to that of Orchis maculata , especially in the 
spreading sepals, and the shape of the lip, yet the latter organ 
has the narrower more acute side lobes, much exceeding the 
small median lobe, which strongly indicates the influence of 
the other parent And as regards colour, the same influence 
was unmistakable. Instead of the pale lilac or nearly white 
shade of the Orchis , there was a strong suffusion of pale green 
Annals of Botany, Vol. VI. No. XXIII, October 1892.] 
