CORALLORRHIZA INNATA. SPURLESS CORAL-
ROOT.
CORALLORRHIZA innata ; calcare abbreviato omnino adnato.
CORALLORRHIZA innata. Brown in H ort. Kew. ed. 2. ml. 5 .p . 209* Hook. FI. Scot. P . I . p. 255.
CORALLORRHIZA Halleri. Richard in M ém. du Mus. ml. 4. p. 61.
CYMBIDITJM Corallorhizon. Swartz de Orchid, p. 77. Willd. Sp. P L ml. 4. p . 109. Decand.
- Fl. Fr. ed. 8'. ml. 3. p. 263. FI. Gall. Syn. p. 173. Pers. Syn. P I. ml. 2.
p. 517. Wahl. Fl. Lapp. p . 220.
OPHRYS Corallorrhiza. Linn. Sp. P l.p . ] 339. Huds. Angl. p .8 8 8 . L ig h tf. Scot. p . 523. t. 23.
' With. Bot. Arr. ed. 4. ml. 9.. p. 32. Hoffm. Germ. ed. 2. ml. 1. P . I I. p. 178.
Smith Fl. B rit. p. 932. Engl. Bot. 1. 1547. (Ed. Fl. Dan. f. 451.
CORALLORRHIZA. Hall. Helv. n. 1301. t. 44.
Dot. Koraalwortel. Germ. Die Koralwurzel. Russ. Petrow krest.
Class a n d Order. G Y N A N D R IA MONANDRIA.
[N atural Order. ORCHIDE7E, Juss., Decand., Brown, Hook.']
Gen. Char. Labellum basi productum, calcare adnato vel libero. Columna libera. Masses pollinis quatuor,
obliqusB (nec parallel®). Br.
Gen . Char. Lip produced behind, adnate with the spur, or free. Column free. Masses o f pollen four, oblique
(not parallel).
Radix efibris numerosis, crassis, carnosis, pallide-fuscis,
brevibus, insigniter ramosis atque anastomosan-
Scapus spithamæus ad pedalem, erectus, teres, striatus,
pallide fusco-luteus, squamis cylindraceis, elon-
gatis, concoloribus, vagi nanti bus subtribus.
Flores pauci, in spicam, vel racemum, laxam dispositi,
prim um nu tantes, fusco-viridcs.
B racteæ minutæ, ovato-lanceolatæ, virides.
P eduncüli brevissimi, curvati, demum erecti.
Pe r ia n th ii Foliola : tria superiora conniventia,
ovato-lanceolata, convexa; duo lateralia longitu-
dine labelli, deflexa, incurva, ut et supremum,
apice fusca : Labellum oblongum, decurvum, album,
punctatum, lateribus sublobatis, incurvatis,
' intus ad basin ' sanguineo-maculatum, ecalcara-
tum (calcare abbreviato omnino adnato. B r.).
Columna elongata, linearis, dorso convexa, intus plana,
marginata, pallide viridi-fusca, maculis sanguineis
notata.
Anthera terminalis, operculata, mobilis, decidua, ses-
silis, margini posteriori stigmatis affixa, hemi-
sphærica, bilocularis, loculis longitudinaliter de-
hiscentibus, subbilocellatis: Massæ pollinis binoe
in singulo loculo, ovatee, pallide virides, obliquæ,
subcereaceæ.
Stigma subquadratum, anthera tectum.
G Ermen magnum, oblongum, basi attenuatum, viride,
tortum.
Root formed of many thick, fleshy, pale-brown, short
fibres, which are much branched, and anastomosing.
Scape from a span to a foot in height, erect, round, striated,
o f a pale brownish yellow colour, furnished
with about three cylindrical, elongated, sheathing
scales of the same hue.
Flowers few in number, arranged into a lax spike or
raceme, drooping at first, of a brownish green
colour.
Bracteas small, ovato-lanceolate, green.
Peduncles very short, curved, finally erect.
Leaflets of the Perianth : of these the three
uppermost are connivent, ovato-lanceolate, convex
; the two lateral ones are of the same length
as the lip, deflexed, incurved, all are brown at
their points: Lip oblong, curved downwards,
white, dotted, its edges somewhat lobed, incurved,
at the base within marked with red, destitute
of a spur (the spur short, altogether adnate with
the lip. JSr.).^; •
Column elongated, linear, convex behind, plane within,
marginated,. of a pale greenish brown colour,
marked with red spots.
Anther terminal, resembling an operculum, moveable,
deciduous, sessile, fixed to the posterior margin
of the'stigma, hemispherical, two-celled, the cells
opening lengthwise, and again imperfectly two-
celled : Masses of pollen two in each cell, ovate,
pale green, placed obliquely, of a waxy consistency.
Stigma almost square, covered by the anther.
Germen large, oblong, attenuated at the base, green,
twisted.
Fig. 1. Front view of a flower. Fig. 2. Side view o f the column. Fig. 3. Front view of the column and upper part
of the germen. Fig. 4. Lip. Fig. 5. Anther, with the cells empty. Fig. 6. Pollen.— all magnified.
Among the very rarest of the British Orchideous plants, as well as the most singular, may be enumerated the
present individual, which grows nowhere in these islands except in Scotland, and which has by Mr. Brown been
with great propriety formed into a new genus. Lightfoot discovered it first in a moist hanging wood on the south
side, near the head, of Little Loch Broom, Ross-shire; and this was the only spot in which it was known to grow,
until Mr. E. J . Maughan of Edinburgh found it in a peat bog near Ravelrig Toll, where I have had the ple'asure
of gathering it in company with that gentleman. Mr. J . Bishop has also detected the Corallorrhiza in the woods
of Methven Castle, Perthshire ; but I am assured that this station has since been destroyed.
This plant flowers in June, and for two successive years I have been furnished with beautiful recent specimens
of it, gathered at Ravelrig by my valued friend R. Th. Greville, Esq., a gentleman whose high attainments in, and
ardent thirst for the pursuit of, Natural History, bid fair to place him ere long in the first rank of British botanists.
Hitherto his observations and discoveries have been made known to the public through the medium of others;
but happily for the promulgation o f science, Mr. Greville has now undertaken a publication on the rarer cryptoga-
mic plants of Scotland, in which the Fungi will engage a large portion of his attention. He has, in this view, prepared
a great number of exquisite drawings, and the first number of his work, in an 8vo size with coloured plates,
is expected to appear in January next.
The roots of the Corallorrhiza innata are of a most remarkable structure, and unlike any thing except the animal
substance to which their similitude occasions the generic name. The stem resembles that of Listera Nidus-
avis, being, as well as it, destitute of leaves, and only clothed with a few sheathing scales. The flowers are unlike
those of any of its congeners, and the lip, when magnified, appears highly beautiful both in colour and form.
This species is found in America, though, as well as in Europe, but rarely. According to Nuttall, two other
individuals of the same genus also grow on that extensive continent, as mentioned in his Genera of North American
plants.