BRITISH FORMS OF ORCHIS IXCARNA.TA 
275 
The variations in general habit and flower-colour are considerable, 
more so than in the shape and habit of the flowers. The sepals are 
not always quite erect, but tend to be, and the side-lobes are not 
always strongly reflexed ; sometimes the lower flowers are less reflexed 
than the upper on the same spike. The white variety lias usually 
flatter lips than the type, and often larger flowers. The lip-pattern 
in the great majority of cases is of line well-marked lines, in a 
narrow oblong, regularly disposed on both sides of the median line of 
the lip. In var. pulchella the lines are heavy; sometimes they are 
replaced by evenly-broken lines, or by many fine dots in no pattern. 
The variations in height are from 5 to 10 cm., which Dr. Druce gives 
for var. dunensis , to 5 dm. or more ; the average height is about 
3 dm. A splendid plant from Briinsfield Bog, Glos., was 51 cm. 
high and the stem (pressed) 1*5 cm. thick. The leaves vary con¬ 
siderably, both in length and breadth and shape. In specimens of 
about 3 dm. high, the length varies in the case of the longest leaf 
from 1 to 3 dm., and the width from 1 to 2 5 cm. Sometimes the 
upper leaves are small, and do not reach the base of the spike, some¬ 
times they reach about halfway up it, or quite overtop it. The 
bracts vary from 1*5 to 4 cm. in length and from 3 5 to 8 mm. in 
width. We believe that such variations depend very much on the 
situation in which the plant is growing. In the damp hollows of 
sand-dunes plants growing clear of herbage tend to dwarf size and 
broader, less erect leaves, whilst amongst grasses and rushes they are 
narrower and taller. At the same time one often sees great varia¬ 
tions in the size of plants growing in apparently identical conditions. 
Thus it would appear that in the case of var. dunensis , named by 
Dr. Druce in Rep. Bot. Exch. Club, 1915, p. 212, we have a form 
which hardly deserves this special distinction—at any rate, on account 
of the characters given ; its dwarf habit and recurved leaves may be 
merely due to the situation. In the Freshfield sandhills cited for 
this var., we have seen dwarf plants growing in the open, side by 
side with others precisely similar except in size, the taller plants 
ranging up to 3 dm. and growing amongst herbage. At Kidwelly 
there are large numbers of dwarfs of deep maroon-colour, and with 
them many taller ones, of the same fine colour, mostly growing in 
the more grassy places. We have a small specimen from the Isle of 
Arran, 7 cm. high, with a spike of 2 5 cm. There are three broad 
divergent leaves at the base, and two above, of which the lower 
equals the top of the spike. The flowers are deep maroon, like some 
shades of dark red mahogany; lip about 6 mm. long and a little 
wider, side-lobes crenulate and a little angular, not fully reflexed, 
centre-lobe distinct. Larger plants attained a height of 15 cm. 
O. incarnata var. pulchella Druce, in Rep. Bot. Exch. Club, 
1917, 1G7, and 1919, 577, Dr. Druce describes a variety of O. in - 
carncita which “ grows in sphagnum and peat bogs in the New Forest, 
Teesdale, Wales and Scotland.” It is described as slender, the lip 
less reflexed than usual, not trilid nor trilobed, the colour a rich 
purple, with darker, interrupted lines. We have seen this plant in 
the New Forest in fair plenty this year. It is a very beautiful and 
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