EPIPACTIS PALUSTRIS. MARSH EPIPACTIS.
EP IPA C T IS palustris ; foliis lanceolatis amplexicaulibus, bracteis flöte brevioribus, floribus pendulis,
labello crenato obtuso petalis aequali, germidibus pubesccntibus. Wühl.
EP IPA C T IS palustris. Swartz de Orchid, p. 64. JVilld. Sp. PI. ml. 4. p. 84. Alton Hort. Kern.
ed. 2. ml. 5. p. 202. Decand. Fl. Fr. ed. 3, ml. 3. p. 259. FL Gail. S yn.p. 172.
Rich, in Mem. de Muséum, ml. 4. p. 60.
E P IPA C T IS foliis ensiformibus caulinis, floribus pendulis, labello obtuso, oris plicätis. Hall. Hclv.
n. 1296. A 39.
SERAPIÂS palustris. Lig h tf. Scot. p. 527. Oed. Fl. Dan. t. 207- Smith Fl. B rit. p. 944. Engl.
Bot. t. 270. Pers. Syn. PI. ml. 2. p . 513.
SERAPIAS longifolia. Linn.Syst. Veget. cd. 14. p. 215. (fiel. Smith.) With. Bot. Arr.ed. 4. ml. 2.
p. 40. Hojfm. Germ. ed. 2. ml. 1. P . I I. p. 182.
SERAPIAS longifolia y . L im . Sp. PI. p. 1345. .
SERAPIAS latifolia y . Huds. Angl. p. 393.
IIE L L E BO R IN E palustris nostras. Marsh Helleborine. RaU Syn. p. 3'84.
Dan. Huulloebe. Dut. & Germ. Niesblad. Fr. L ’Elleborine. It. Elleborina. Port. Ellcborinha.
Span. Eteborma. Welsh. Ca Idrist y gors.
Class and Order. G Y N A N D R IA DIANDRIA.
[N atural Order. ORCHIDEÆ, Juss. Decand. Brown.]
G en . Char. Labellum inferne ventricosutn ; superne vel Sndivisum vel trilobum, lobo medio majore articulatim
connexo : Pollen farinaceum. B r.
G en. Char. Labellum beneath ventricose, above either undivided or three-lobed, with the middle îobe the
largest, articulately connected : Pollen farinaceous. B r .
Radix perennis> horizontaliter repens, carnoso-lignosa,
fusca, fibras numerosas longas, flexuosas, carno-
sas, simplices emittens.
CaÜLIS pedalis et ultra, erectus, vix flexuosus, teres,
puipuiascens, foliosus, inferne vaginis cylindra-
Ceis, strictls, purpurascentibus obsitus.
Folia ; infenora apptoximata, oblongo-lanccolata, ob-
tusa, basi longe vaginata ; superiora ensiformia,
sessilia, vix amplexicaulia, subcarinata, striata.
FLORES numerôsi, terminales, in spicam laxam oblon-
gam subsecundam dispositi, nutan'tes, peduncu-
lati, bracteati. Bracteæ subulato-lanceolatæ, inferiore
flore longiore, superioribus brevioribus.
PerÏànthium sex-divisum, foliola patentia ; .tria exte-
rioraæqualia, virescentia, purpureo-lineata, ovato-
acuminala, parum concava ; tria interiora valde
inæqualia, alba, quorum duo superiora exterio-
ribus minora, anguste ovata, basi lineis purpu-
reis ; inferius seu labellum reliquis longius, medium
versus quasi articulatum, articulo inferiore
(Hypochilium Rich.) cymbiformi, vix lobato,
albOj rubedine tincto atque lineis obliquis roseis,
superiore (Epichilium Rich.) subcordato, albis-
simo, medio elevato, margine lato undique pul-
cherrime undulato-crenulato, ad basin callo quadrate,
linea media diviso, basi emarginato, margine
superne unidentato, flavo.
CoLÜMNA labello multo breviore subcylindracea.
A nthera terminalis, basi affixa, articulata, erecta, pal-
lide-flavescens, ovato-quadrata, bilocularis, locu-
lis longitudinaliter dehiscentibus. Massæ polli-
nis oblongæ, albescentes, bipartibiles, pulvereæ,
e spherulis ternis quaternisque.
Stigma anticum, subquadratum, glutinosum, album,
basi bituberculatum, apice tuberculo rotundato.
(Proscolla Rich.)
Germen lineari-oblongum, obscure purpurascens, tor-
tuosum, pubescens, basi in petiolum attenuatum.
ROOT perennial, ’creeping horizontally, between fleshy
and ligneous, brown, throwing out numerous
long, flexuose,. fleshy, simple fibres.
Stem a foot or more high, erect, slightly flexuose,
round, purplish, leafy, surrounded below with
cylindrical, straight, purplish sheaths.
Leaves ; the lower ones approximate, oblongo-lanceo-
late, obtuse, a good deal sheathing at the base;
the superior ones sword-shaped, sessile, scarcely
embracing the stem, somewhat keeled, striated.
Flowers numerous, terminal, disposed in a lax, oblong,
subsecund spike, drooping, pedunculated, and
furnished with bracteas. Bracteas subulate-lanceolate,
the lower one longer than the flower,
the upper ones shorter.
Perianth six-cleft, the leaflets patent; the three exterior
ones equal, greenish, marked with purple
• lines, ovato-acuminate, slightly concave; the three
interior ones very unequal, white*; of which the
two upper are smaller than the exterior, narrowly
ovate, marked at the base with purple lines; the
lower leaflet or labellum is longer than the others,
towards the middle as it were articulated, the
lower joint (Hypochilium of Rich’.) cymbiform,
somewhat lobed, white, tinged with red, and
marked with oblique rose-coloured lines, the
upper one subcordate, extremely white, elevated
in the middle; margin broad and elegantly
waved and crenulated, at the base having a fleshy
excrescence, divided by a central line, emarginate
at the base, the margin above unidentate, yellow.
Column much shorter than the labellum, subcylindrical.
Anther terminal, attached by its base, articulated,
erect, pale yellow, ovato-quadrate, two-celled,
the cells opening longitudinally. Pollen masses
oblong, whitish, splitting in two, farinacous, composed
of spherules united in threes and fours.
Stigma anterior, subquadrate, glutinous, white, at the
base having two tubercles, and at the apex a
rounded tubercle. (Proscolla o f Richard.)
Germen between linear and oblong, of a darkish purple,
twisted, downy, attenuated below into a footstalk.
Fig. 1. Flower with the five exterior petals removed ; a. the labellum; b. the column of fructification. Fig. 2.
Interior view of the labellum ; a. Hypochilium, and b. Epichilium of Richard. Fig. 3 and 4. Side and front
views of the column of fructification; a. the stigma; b. the a nther; c. the pollen masses. Fig. 5. Granules
of pollen,— all more or less magnified.
The name of longifolia, given by Linnreus to this Epipactis, was certainly not a happy one, since it is much
more applicable to another species ; and the one by which Lightfoot called it is, therefore, now more generally
adopted. Widely different as the present plant is from E . latifolia, yet Hudson supposed it to be the •oar. y . of
that species, and says that “ y in horto et solo arido illato, secundo anno in « evadit.” (Vid. FI. A ngl. p. 394.)
The dissections of this and E . latifolia, if compared with those of E.pollens and ensifolia already published, will
a t once show the difference pointed out by Richard between the genus Epipactis, to which the two former belong,
and that of Cephalanthema in which the two latter are placed. The main characters upon which he rests this division
are, that in Epipactis the ovary is pedicellate, the leaflets of the perianth, and particularly the lip, are patent,
the rostellum is apicular, and the granules of pollen are united in threes or fours :—whilst in Cephalanthera the
ovary is sessile, the leaflets of the perianth are erecto-connivent, the labellum embraces the column of fructification,
the rostellum is absent, and the granules of pollen are simple.
Epipactis palustris flowers in July, and is not uncommon in marshy places, especially amongst underwood.
Mr. Graves communicated our specimen from the vicinity of Bexley, Kent,