......
HERMINIUM MONORCHIS. MUSK HERMINIUM,
H E RM IN IUM Monorchis ; foliis radicalibus lanceplatis binis, B r .
H E RM IN IUM Monorchis. Brown in Hort. Kew. ed. 2. ml, 5. p, 191. Richard, in M enu da Man.
ml. 4. p. 57.
OP IiRYS Monorchis. Linn. Sp. PI. p. 1342. Huds. Angl. p. 390. With. Bot. A r r . ed. 4, ml. 2,
p. 36. Willd. Sp. PI. ml. 4. p. 61. Smith FI. B rit. p. 936. Engl. Bot. t. 71, Wahl,
FI. Lapp. p. 217, (Ed. FI. D an. 1 .102. Decand. FI, Fr. ed- 3. ml. 3. p. 254. FI. Gall,
Syn.p. 170.
SATYRIUM Monorchis. Pers. Syn. PI. ml. 2. p. 506,
ARACHNITES Monorchis, Hoffm. Germ. ed. 2. ml. 1. P . I I. p. 179.
ORCHIS bulbo unico subrotundo, labello cruciformi. Hall. Helv. n. 1262. t. 22,
ORCHIS odorata moschata, sive Monorchis. The yellow sweet or Musk Orchis, Raii Syn.p. 378,
P^n, Sygsnap, P u t, EenhaMg twecblad, Germ. Ragwurz. Swed. ffonungsblomma.
Class a n d Order. G Y N A N D R IA M O N A N PR IA .
[N atural Order. ORCHIDEÆ), Juss., Brawn, Hook.]
Gen . Char. Corolla subpatens. Labellum ecalcaratum. Glandules massarum pollinis nudæ, distincts.
Gen . Char. Corolla slightly patent. Lip spurless. Glands of the pollen-masses naked, distinct,
R adix e tuberibus duobus subrotundis, uno sessili, anni
præsentis, altero minore, pedunculato, anni se-
quentis.
C auLIS palmaris, erectup, teres, nudiugculus.
Folia radicalia bina, lanceolata, carinata, obtusiuscula;
caulina solitaria, parva, subulata.
Flores numerosi, parvi, luteo-vindes, cernui, in spicam
elongatam densam dispositi.
BRACTEiE lanceolato-subulatoe, virides, germine bre-
PERIANTHIüM sex-partitym : Foliola subconniventia ;
tria exteriora breviora, ovata, concava, colore m-
tensiore ; tria interiora luteo-viridia, quorum duo
lateralia ovata, longe acuminata, obtusiuscula,
inferius vel labellum trifidum, subreticulatum,
ecalcaratum, basi gibbosum segmentis lateralj-
bus brevibus obtusis, intejunedio lineari-angusto,
longo.
COLPMNA perbrevis.
ANTHER A terminalis, persistens, ovato-rotundata, viridis,
bilocularis, loculis basi distinctis : Massæ
pollinis ovatæ, fqlvæ, granulosæ, breviter pedicellate,
glandulis majusculis, pvatis, njjdis.
Germen oblongum, sulcatum, vix tortum, apice attenuate,
incurvo.
.Stigma concavujp, subquadratum.
Root formed of two roundish tubers, one sessile, of the
present year, the other smaller, pedunculated,
for the following year.
Stem about a hand’s breadth in height, erect, rounded,
nearly naked.
Leaves : radical ones two, lanceolate, keeled, rather
obtuse; stem-leaves solitary, small, subulate.
Flowers numerous, small, yelkmvgreen, drooping, dis»
posed in a dense elongated spike.
Brapteas lanceolato-subulate, green, shorter than the
germen.
Perianth six-partite; Leaflets subconni vent; the three
outer .ones shorter, ovate, concave, and of a deeper
coIouf ; the three inner ones yellow-green, of which
the two lateral ones am pvate, much acuminated,
rather obtuse, the lowermost one of lip trifid,
subreticulated, spurless, but gibbous at the base,
with the lateral segments shorter obtuse, the in?
termediate one narrow linear, long.
Column o f fructification very short.
; An th e r terminal, persistent, ovato-rotundate, green,
two-celled, with the cells distinct at the base:
Pollen masses ovatg, fulvous, granulated, shortly
pedicellate, with the glands rather large, ovate,
naked-
Germen oblong, furrowed, scarcely twisted, lengthened
and incurved at the extremity.
I Stigma concave, subquadrate.
F ie 1 Single flower. Fig. 2. Divisions of the perianth separated from the rest of the flower: a. a. a. the three
outer segments: b. b. the two lateral ones of the three inner segments: c. the sixth segment or Lip, with the
anther a t its base. Fig, 3, Side view p f the Lip aqd Anther. Fig. 4. Column of fructification. Fig. 5. Pollen
mass.—rail magnified.
The plants which belong to the Orchis tribe are almost universal favourites, and the Flora Londinensis already
contains a very large proportion of those species which are indigenous to our island. If, as we flatter ourselves,
this work shall be found to present more elaborate descriptions and more complete analyses of the fructification of
these individuals than can any where else be met with, the merit in this case is entirely due to our able contem.-
norary Mr. Brown, who, with the greatest skill, has, in the last edition of the Hortus Keioensis, remodelled all the
British Orchideous Genera. He has directed our attention to such parts of the flower as were previously little or
not at all understood; and while he has laid open to us the beautiful and highly varied structure of their minute organs
of fructification, he has at the same time pointed out in them those distinctive marks on which alone the generic
characters can, with safety, be founded. Upon these principles the genus Herminium is with propriety removed
from Ophrys and from all the .other British Orchideee; and it will be perceived also to have a habit winch is totally
Most o f the tuberous-rooted individuals of the Orchis family may be seen to present the two tubers (of the
present and the succeeding year) of pretty nearly equal dimensions. In the plant in question this is not the case j
for while the tuber which affords nourishment to the existing stem is sessile, large, and shrivelled, the other is seen
forming a little swelling at the extremity of a rather long and stout horizontal fibre. The future year s plant will thus
arise at some considerable distance from its parent, and no two, therefore, so produced, .can spring up in the
The very pretty and delicate flower here figured, is a native, like so many others of the same tribe, of dry, chalky,
or even gravelly pastures, and in such situations is not uncommonly tp be met with in many of the counties .of
England In Norfolk, Suffolk, and Cambridge, it occurs most frequently, but is never very plentiful, and
Mr. Graves has found it on Mickleham Downs, Norbury Park, and on Ranmer Common, near Dorking, Surry.. The
Northern extremity of our island does not however seem to possess it, as it hitherto holds no place in the Scottish
Flora- which is the more remarkable, since it is .a native of Denmark and Lapland. The specimen here delineated
flowered in the Glasgow Royal Botanic Garden, on the 11th of July, in a pot of common earth mixed with .chalk
rubbish. I t had been communicated parly in the Spring from England by our valued friend M r. Anderson of the
^ V h e Herminium Monorchis has rather a powerful smell. This is by many thought to resemble the scept of ippsk,