Part 43

MENZIES’ RATTLESNAKE PLANTAIN

The specific name, Menziesii, refers to the dedication of this species, in honor of the explorer and botanist Menzies.

Small conifer woodland orchid, with fibrous-fleshy roots. June-July 21st-August 20th-September 15th.

=Flowers= greenish-white, spike not 1-sided. =Labellum= scarcely saccate, swollen at base, apex narrower, and recurved. =Anther= ovate, pointed; the buds, flowers, and leaves are all conspicuously acute. =Stem= 8-15 inches high. =Leaves= basal in rosette, bracts above, often without blotches of white; resembling P. pubescens very much, although the basal leaves are stiffer and acute at apex and base. The Peramiums intergrade with each other, confusing their specific characters.

Continental Range—From Loring, Chilcat, southeast coast of Alaska, southward to Lake Huron, Quebec, Maine, Vermont(?), and New York; westward to Arizona and California. Ascends 9500 feet altitude in Arizona.

New England Range—Maine, rare; New Hampshire, rare; Vermont, doubtfully reported; Massachusetts, doubtfully reported.

4.—PERAMIUM OPHIOIDES (Fernald) Rydberg, 1899-1901

WHITE-BLOTCHED RATTLESNAKE PLANTAIN

The specific name, ophioides, comes from ophis, a serpent, and oides, like, referring to the blotched leaves resembling a snake’s skin.

Small cold mossy woodland orchid with thick fleshy-fibrous roots. July-September.

=Flowers= greenish-white; galea concave with a short, strongly recurved tip. =Labellum= deeply saccate, with recurved margins and tip. =Anther= blunt. =Scape= 4-8 inches high, glandular-pubescent. =Leaves= basal in rosette, several; leaf-blade broadly ovate, dark green, usually with the white blotches most conspicuous along the cross-veins. Spike of flowers 1-sided, loosely arranged. A variety of P. repens, with which it is confused.

Continental Range—From Prince Edward Island to Manitoba, southward to North Carolina, in company with P. repens and P. pubescens.

New England Range—Vermont, frequent; Massachusetts, common.

Achroanthes

Rafinesque, 1808

(Microstylis Nuttall, 1818)

ADDER’S-MOUTH

The generic name, Achroanthes, refers to the green flowers of this genus.

Small orchids with solid bulbs. =Anther=, 1. =Labellum= cordate, or eared, at the base, embracing the column. =Sepals= free; petals linear, spreading. =Flowers= minute white or greenish, in a terminal raceme. =Anther= erect between the auricles, 2-celled. =Pollinia=, 4, 2 in each anther-sac, smooth and waxy, without caudicles or glands, and cohering at summit. =Stem=, 4-10 inches high. =Leaf= 1, with several scales at base of stem. =Seed-capsule= oval, or globose.

Continental Range—From Alaska, southward to Florida; westward to Nebraska and Arizona, where a species seeks 9500 feet elevation on Mount Graham. There are 70-80 species reported in the temperate and tropical regions of the world.

North American species north of Mexico 7 New England species 2 Hoosac Valley species 2

New England species:

1. A. monophylla (Linnæus) Green, 1753-1891. 2. A. unifolia (Michaux) Rafinesque, 1803-1808.

1.—ACHROANTHES MONOPHYLLA (Linnæus) Green, 1753-1891

WHITE ADDER’S-MOUTH

The specific name, monophylla, refers, inappropriately, to the one leaf, since each of our New England species are 1-leaved.

Small woodland orchid, with bulbous root. June 20th-July 25th-August 2d.

=Flowers= whitish, in a club-like raceme, 1-3 inches long, ¼-½ inch thick; flowers ¹⁄₁₂ inch long, minute, pedicels nearly erect, subtended by bracts ⅙ inch long. =Labellum= ovate, acuminate, notched on sides. =Sepals= and =petals= acute, narrow. =Stem=, 4-6 inches high. =Leaf=, 1, sheathing at its base, 1-2 inches long, distinguished from following species, A. unifolia, by being near base of stem instead of middle.