ORCHIS HIRCINA. LIZARD ORCHIS.
OR CH IS hircina; labello tripartite», laciniis lateralibus lineari-subulatis, media elongata germine triplo
longiore lineari bifida, petalis conniventibus, cornu brevissimo conico didymo. B r .
ORCHIS hircina. Swartz de Orchid, p. 15. Willd. Sp. P L ml. 4. p . 28. Brown in Hort. Kern.
ed. 2. ml. 5. p. 190. Decand. Fl. Fr. cd. 3. ml. 5. p. 250. Fl. Gall. S yn .p . 169.
ORCHIS radicibus subrotundis, labello longissimo tripartite plicate. Hall. Helv. n. 1368. t. 25.
ORCHIS barbata fostida. The Lizard Flower. R ail Syn. p. 176.
ORCHIS barbata foetida minor, flore albo. The lesser Lizard Flower with a white Blossom. Rail
Syn.p. 376.
SATYRIUM hircinum. Linn. Sp. P i.p . 1337. Iluds. Angl. p .3 8 6 . With. B ot. A rr. cd. 4. ml. Q.p. 29.
Jacq. Austr. t. 367. Smith Engl. Bot. t. 34. Fl. B r it. p . 927. Hoffm. Germ. ed. 2.
ml. 1. P . II. p . 175. Pers. Syn. PI. ml. 2. p . 506.
LOROGLOSSHM hircinum. Rich, in Mem. du Mus. ml. 4. p. 54.
Dut. Bokshulletjes. Fr. L a Satyr ion ä larges feuilles. Germ. Stinkende Bocksgeilen. It. Port.
& Span. Satyrio.
Class a n d Order. G Y N A N D R IA MONANDRIA.
[N atural Order. O RCH ID E iE , Juss. Decand. Brown. Div. I. Anthera adnata, subterminalis, persistens.
Pollinis massa e lobulis angulatis elastice coheerentibus, basi affixee. B r .
Gen . Char. Corolla ringens. Labellum basi subtus calcaratum. Glandula (1—2) pedicellorum pollinis inclusce
cucullounico. B r .
Gen . Char. Corolla ringent. Lip with a spur beneath a t the base. Glands o f the foot-stalk of the pollen
included in a single pouch.
Radix e fibris paucis carnosis simplicibus, bulbisque
duobus magnis subrotundis.
Caulis sesquipedalis usque ad tripedalem, erectus,
flexuosüs, teres, striatus, fistulosus, foliosus.
Folia alierna, lanceolate, obtusa, carinata, lineata,
erecto-patentia; inferiora longiora,. superiora
sensim minora magisque erecta, etiam cauli
appressa.
Flores numerosi, in spicam longam densiusculam cy-
lindricam semipedalem congesti.
Bracteje lanceolato-subulaLe, erecto-patentes, germine
longiores; superiores sensim minores.
Corolla : petal a quinquein galeam conniventia, fusco-
viridia, intus macqlis lineisque sanguineis: ho-
rum tria exteriora ovato-concava, duo interiora
angusta, linearia. Labellum longissimum, pendens,
fusco-purpui'eum, trifidum, basi cordatum,
inferne breviter obtuseque calcaratum, disco al-
bido, sanguineo-punctato, margine undulato-
crispato ; laciniis lateralibus subulatis, contortis,
intermedia valde elongata, lineari, spiraliter tor-
ta, apice bifida: prope basin labelli penicelli duo
e pilis sanguineis.
Columna brevis.
Anthera terminalis, erecta, bilocularis, basi unisac-
cata. Massee pollinis clavatce, viridescentes, pe-
dunculat®, basi glandulis confluentibus unit«.
Stigma subquadratum.
Germen oblongum, sulcatum, tortum.
Root consisting of a few fleshy simple fibres, and two
large roundish bulbs.
Stem a foot and a half to three feet high, erect, flexu-
ose, round, striated, hollow, leafy.
Leaves alternate, lanceolate, obtuse, carinate, marked
with lines, erecto-patent; the lower ones longer;
the superior ones gradually smaller and more
erect, even appressed to the stem.
Flowers numerous, collected into aJong rather dense
cylindrical spike half a foot long.
Bracteas lauceolato-subulate, erecto-patent, longer
than the germen; the superior ones gradually
smaller.
Corolla : five petals meeting in the form of a helmet,
brownish green, within having sanguineous spots
and lines; of these the three outer ones are
ovato-concave, the two inner narrow and linear.
The lip very long, pendent, brownish purple,
trifid, cordate at the base, below having a short
and obtuse spur, with the disk whitish, spotted
with red, the margin undulato-crispate; the lateral
segments are subulate, twisted, the intermediate
ones much lengthened out, linear, spirally
twisted, bifid at the extremity: near the
base of the lip are two tufts of blood-red coloured
hairs.
Column offructification short.
Anther terminal, erect, two-celled, at the base having
a single pouch. Masses of pollen club-shaped,
greenish, on footstalks, united at the base by the
confluent glands.
Stigma nearly quadrate.
Germen oblong, furrowed, twisted.
Fig. 1. Flower, the three outer petals (fig. 2 .2 .).being removed. Fig. 3. Column of fructification. Fig. 4. Pollen
masses—all more or less magnified.
This has always, and very justly, been considered as one of the rarest and most singular of the British Orchideous
plants; and it appears from Ray’s Synopsis that a Mr. Bowles was the first person who had the good fortune to
discover it in our country, “ in Cantio via quae a Crayford ad Dartford oppidum dUcit.” The Botanist's Guide
gives the bottom of Clifton Hill, Colnewick Wood, Nottinghamshire, about Keswick, Cumberland, and Crick, Derbyshire,
as other stations. The specimens from which the figures here given were taken, were communicated by
Mr. Graves in a fine state in the first week of July, from the hedgerows about Dartford, Kent; he likewise
finds it on the chalky banks on the left side of the road leading from Chatham to Maidstone, beyond Kitt’s Coty-
house, Kent, and also on Box Hill, Surrey; and has received specimens from Edward Barnard, Esq. from Bexley
in Kent.
To Mr. Graves also we are indebted for the following observations:““ I t grows readily in gardens, if planted
among chalk, and care be taken to cover the roots thickly with moss, or dead leaves, during the winter. I t rarely
blossoms for two successive seasons, and will sometimes remain in an entirely dormant state for the whole of the
year succeeding that of its flowering. In May the foliage is in perfection, and the leaves are apparently covered
with an exceedingly thin, pellucid, silvery membrane, which gives to the plant a pale or hoary appearance, and
which, when bruised, diffuse the same unpleasant odour as the blossoms. When the spike of flowers rises beyond
the leaves, those nearest the root begin to wither; and by the time the inflorescence is perfected, the lower part of
the stem and foliage wither and decay, and the whole plant is liable to be overlooked. In cold and wet seasons
the flowers have scarcely any colour; but if the summer be hot and dry their hues are very brilliant, particularly in
the inside of the hood; and the whole appears, especially when viewed with the aid of a small pocket lens, as if
studded with diamonds. The flower has occasionally, as in Orchis tephrosanthes, a double lip ; and in the year
181'9 I found an individual that had a double spike of blossoms.”
_ The smell, on opening the box in which the plants had been inclosed for some hours, was inconceivably foetid and
disagreeable, even more so than that of the animal from which the Latin specific name is derived.
1 The English name has been given in consequence of the fancied resemblance which the Labellum bears to a
Lizard; and this appearance becomes more striking when the flower is deprived of its outer petals.
We follow Swartz, Willdenow, and Brown, in separating this plant from the genus Satyrium, and in making it
an Orchis, with which latter genus it agrees in all its characters. Richard removes it from Orchis principally on
account o f the single gland a t the base, which is common to both pollen-masses, and he unites it with Aceras an-
thropophora.