Part 162 (1/2)
8. LiSTERA, R. Brown. TWAYBLADE.
Sepals and petals nearly alike, spreading or reflexed. Lip mostly drooping, longer than the sepals, 2-lobed or 2-cleft. Column wingless; stigma with a rounded beak. Anther borne on the back of the column at the summit, erect, ovate; pollen powdery, in 2 ma.s.ses, joined to a minute gland.--Roots fibrous. Stem bearing a pair of opposite sessile leaves in the middle, and a spike or raceme of greenish or brownish-purple small flowers. (Dedicated to _Martin Lister_, an early and celebrated British naturalist.)
[*] _Column very short; sepals ovate, reflexed; plants delicate, 4--8'
high._
1. L. cordata, R. Brown. Leaves round-ovate, somewhat heart-shaped (--1' long); raceme smooth; _flowers minute, crowded, on pedicels not longer than the ovary; lip_ linear, twice as long as the sepals, 1-toothed each side at base, _2-cleft_.--Cold woods, N. J. to Mich., Minn., and northward. June. (Eu.)
2. L. australis, Lindl. Leaves ovate; _raceme loose and slender; flowers very small, on minutely glandular-p.u.b.escent pedicels twice the length of the ovary; lip_ linear, 3--4 times the length of the sepals, _2-parted, the divisions linear-setaceous_.--Damp thickets, Oswego Co., N. Y., and from N. J. to Fla. June.
[*][*] _Column longer, arching or straightish._
3. L. convallariodes, Nutt. Plant 4--9' high; leaves oval or roundish, and sometimes a little heart-shaped (1--1' long); raceme loose, p.u.b.escent; pedicels slender, lip wedge-oblong, 2-lobed at the dilated apex, and 1-toothed on each side at the base, nearly twice the length of the narrowly lanceolate spreading sepals, purplish, {1/3}' long.--Damp mossy woods, N. New Eng. to Mich., Minn., and northward, and south in the mountains to N. C.
9. SPIRaNTHES, Richard. LADIES' TRESSES.
Perianth somewhat ringent, oblique on the ovary; the sepals and petals all narrow, mostly erect or connivent, the three upper pieces sticking together more or less, the two lower covering the base of the lip. Lip oblong, short stalked or sessile, the lower part involute around the column, and with a callous protuberance on each side of the base; the somewhat dilated summit spreading or recurved, crisped, wavy, or rarely toothed or lobed. Column short, oblique, bearing the ovate stigma on the front, and the sessile or short-stalked (mostly acute or pointed) 2-celled erect anther on the back. Pollen-ma.s.ses 2 (one in each cell), narrowly obovate, each 2-cleft, and split into thin and tender plates of granular pollen united by elastic threads, and soon adhering at base to the narrow boat-shaped viscid gland, which is set in the slender or tapering thin beak terminating the column. After the removal of the gland, the beak is left as a 2-toothed or 2-forked tip.--Roots cl.u.s.tered-tuberous; stem more or less naked above, leaf-bearing below or at the base. Flowers small (ours all white or greenish-white), bent horizontally, 1--3-ranked in a spike, which is commonly more or less spirally twisted (whence the name, from spe??a, _a coil_ or _curl_, and ?????, _flower_).
[*] _Flowers in 3 ranks, crowded in a close spike; leaves at the root and base of the stem present at the flowering season._
1. S. latiflia, Torr. Low; naked stem or scape 4--9' (rarely 12') high, smooth; _leaves all next the base, oblong or lance-oblong_ (1--4' long, 3--9” wide), 3--5-nerved, contracted into a sheathing base; spike narrow (1--3' long); _flowers small_ (2--3” long); lip quadrate-oblong, yellowish on the face, not contracted in the middle, thin, wavy-crisped at the very obtuse or truncate apex, the small _callosities_ at the base _oblong, marginal and adnate_ for their whole length; gland and beak of the stigma short.--Moist banks, Vt. and W. Ma.s.s. to Mich. and Minn., south to Del. and Md.
2. S. Romanzoffiana, Cham. Stem _leafy below and leafy-bracted above_ (5--15' high); leaves varying from oblong-lanceolate to gra.s.sy-linear; spike dense, oblong or cylindrical (1--4' long); perianth curved and the summit _manifestly ringent_, pure white (4” long), the sepals and petals all connivent in the upper portion or galea; the _lip ovate-oblong, contracted below the rounded wavy-crenulate much recurved summit_, otherwise entire, the callosities at base globular and smooth; gland oblong-linear and the 2-horned _beak of the stigma short_.--High and cool bogs, N. New Eng. to Mich. and Minn., and northward; Norfolk, Conn. (_Barbour_); central N. Y. July, Aug. (Ireland.)
3. S. cernua, Richard. Stem _leafy below and leafy-bracted_ above (6--20' high); _leaves linear-lanceolate_, the lowest elongated (4--12'
long, 2--9” wide); spike cylindrical, rather dense (2--5' long) and with the white fragrant flowers either p.u.b.escent or nearly smooth; perianth horizontal or recurving (4--5” long), the _lower sepals not upturned_ or connivent with the upper; _lip oblong_ and very obtuse when outspread, but conduplicate or the margins much incurved, wavy-crisped above the middle, especially at the flattish and recurved-spreading apex, the callosities at the base prominent, nipple-shaped, somewhat hairy; gland of the stigma linear, in a _long and very slender beak_.--Common in wet places, especially eastward and southward. Sept., Oct. Very variable in size and foliage, often nearly losing its root-leaves at flowering time.--A variety, growing in dry ground but retaining its leaves and blooming somewhat later, has greenish cream-colored or yellowish stronger-scented flowers. E. Ma.s.s. and Del.
[*][*] _Flowers in one straight or spirally twisted rank._
[+] _Stem bearing elongated leaves at and toward the base, which mostly persist during the flowering season._
4. S. prae'c.o.x, Watson. Root of fleshy or tuberous-thickened fibres; stem 9'--2 high; lower and root-leaves linear or lance-linear (3--8' long, 2--4” wide) gradually tapering to the base, the upper reduced to sheathing bracts; spike linear, dense (2--5' long), usually much twisted, the axis, ovaries, etc., downy-p.u.b.escent; bracts ovate and gradually, or rhombic-ovate and abruptly taper-pointed, surpa.s.sing the ovary, the margins broadly hyaline; perianth 3” long; lip ovate-oblong when outspread, with rather small callosities at base, crisped at the rounded slightly recurved apex; anther and beak of the stigma very acute. (S. graminea, var. Walteri, _Gray_.)--Wet, gra.s.sy places, Ma.s.s.
to N. J. and Fla.
[+][+] _Scape very slender, merely bracted; the leaves with a blade all in a cl.u.s.ter at the ground, ovate or oblong, abruptly contracted into a petiole, commonly withering away at or before flowering; flowers small, and whole plant glabrous or nearly so; bracts small, sharp-pointed, not longer than the capsule._
5. S. gracilis, Bigelow. _Roots cl.u.s.tered, tuberous-thickened_; scape 8--18' high, bearing a slender many-flowered one-sided or twisted spike; perianth barely 1--2” long; _lip oval_ when outspread, narrowly oblong in natural form, _thickish and green above_ with thin white margins, the recurved obtuse or acutish apex wavy-crisped, the callosities at the base nipple-shaped.--Hilly woods and sandy plains, common. July--Oct.
6. S. simplex, Gray. Root a _solitary oblong or spindle-shaped tuber_; no leaves at flowering time; scape 5--9' high, bearing a small narrow (rarely 1-sided) spike (1--3' long) of _very short flowers_ (perianth 1--1” long); _lip thin, white, obovate-oblong_, the apex eroded and crisped, the callosities at the base slender.--Dry sandy soil, E. Ma.s.s.
to N. J., Del., and Md. Aug., Sept.
10. GOODYeRA, R. Br. RATTLESNAKE-PLANTAIN.
Lip sac-shaped, sessile, entire, and without callosities at base.
Otherwise as Spiranthes.--Root of thick fibres, from a somewhat fleshy creeping rootstock, bearing a tuft of thickish petioled leaves, usually reticulated with white veining. Scape, spike, and the greenish-white small flowers usually glandular-downy. (Dedicated to _John Goodyear_, an early English botanist.)
-- 1. _Lip strongly saccate-inflated and with a short spreading or recurved tip; anther short, borne on a distinct filament attached to the back of the short column, blunt; gland-bearing tip or beak of the stigma very short._