286 
BRITISH WILD FLOWERS. 
4.—THE NARROW-LEAVED WHITE HELLEBORINE. (Epipactis ensifolia, Swartz.) 
Synonymes. —E. xiphophylla, Swartz; Serapias ensifolia, Murray; 
S. grandiflora, FI. Don. 
Engravings_ Eng. Bot. t. 494; 2nd ed., t. 1219. 
Specific Character. —Leaves lanceolate, pointed. Bracteas minute, 
much shorter than the smooth ovary. Flowers sessile, erect. Lip 
abrupt, shorter than the sepals, with elevated lines on the disk. 
Description, &c. —This species is often confounded with the last, which it much resembles in its large 
white flowers, which appear in May and June. The plant is, however, of a different habit of growth, and even 
its flowers may be readily distinguished by a yellow, crescent-shaped spot at the extremity of the lip. This 
species is most abundant in sub-alpine woods on a calcareous soil. 
6.—THE PURPLE HELLEBORINE. (Epipactis rubra, Smith.) 
Synonymk. —Serapias rubra, Lin. 
Engravings. —Eng. Bot. t. 437 ; 2nd edit., t. 1220 ; and our fig. 
2, in PI. 55. 
Specific Character. —Leaves lanceolate. Bracteas longer than the 
downy ovary. Flowers sessile, erect. Lip tapering to a point, with 
elevated undulating lines on the disk. {Smith.) 
Description, &c. —This species, though one of the handsomest, is at the same time one of the rarest in the 
genus. The flowers are not numerous, but they are large and showy, and they appear in May and June. 
The plant is only found wild in Gloucestershire, and in some places in the North of England, where the soil is 
poor and stony. 
THE PURPLE-LEAVED HELLEBORINE. (E. purpurata, Smith.) 
This species is very closely allied to E. latifolia ; it differs, however, in the purple hue of the leaves, and in 
a deep crimson stain on the lip. It has only been found growing as a parasite on a stump of hazel or maple 
in some woods in Worcestershire, and in those of Woburn Abbey. 
GENUS VII. 
THE ORCHIS. (Orchis, Lindl.) 
Lin. Syst. GYNANDRIA MONANDRIA. 
Generic Character. —Sepals and petals ringent, coloured ; lip lobed, spurred at the base. Pollen masses with two glands, inclosed 
in a common pouch. ( Lindl.) 
Description, &c. —Strange as are the forms of the flowers belonging to all the different genera included in 
this order, there is perhaps none in which the frolics of nature have been more fully displayed than in the genus 
Orchis, the different species of which have flowers of the most grotesque forms. The name of Orchis is said to 
have been applied to this genus by the ancients. 
1.—THE MEADOW OR FOOL ORCHIS. (Orchis morio, Lin.) 
Engravings. —Eng. Bot., t. 2059 ; 2nd edit., t. 1194. 
Specific Character. —Knobs of the root oval. Lip four-cleft, somewhat crenate; spur obtuse, ascending. Sepals many-ribbed, converging. {Lindl.) 
Description, &c. —This species is found abundantly in moist meadows in various parts of England, and 
indeed it is one of the most common kinds. The flowers, which appear in May and June, are purple, except 
the centre of the lip, which is white with purple spots. 
