beautifulflowers032840mbp

PI. 56 & 57] BPIPACTIS ORCHIS 159
Locality. Gilgit district.
Distribution. W. temperate Himalaya, from Peshawar and
Kashmir to Nepal and Sikkirn, Upper Burma, China, near
Saharanpur, Kurram Valley, through Afghanistan to Syria.
Fig. 7. Bpipactis gigantea, Dougl. (=E. Eoyleana, Lindl.)
Stem 1-2 ft. high, clothed at the base with broad, loose
sheaths. Lower leaves round, 3 by If in., the upper
lanceolate, nerves nearly straight. Eacemes J-f ft. long, the
axis, flower-stalks and ovaries finely hairy. Flowers about
1 in. diameter, drooping, distant, red with yellow centre.
Bracts longer than the flowers, lance-shaped, long-pointed,
the lower ones large and leaf-like. Sepals and petals about
i in. long. Sepals green, veined with red, dorsal one erect,
broadly egg-shaped, the lateral pair egg-lance-shaped. Petals
rather shorter, obliquely egg-shaped, blunt, often veined with
red. Lip longer than the sepals, basal part large, with
prominent nerves, the sides broad, rounded, erect, terminal
part shorter, flat, lance-shaped. Fruit f-| in. long, inversely
egg-shaped-oblong.
Flowers. June, July.
Locality. Srinagar, on a small island in the river ;
Gulmarg,
pine-woods, about 8,500 ft., common ; Baluistan, 8,000-9,000 ft. ;
Gilgit.
Distribution. Temperate Himalaya, from Hazara and
Kashmir, 8,000-12,000 ft. to Kumaon, 7,000-11,000 ft., Nepal,
Sikkim, Waziristan, China, N. and Central America.
ORCHIS, Linn.
The Orchis.
(The classical Greek name of various ground orchids.)
Plate 57
1. Flowers flesh- or rose-coloured ... ... 0. incarnata.
2. Flowers purple-lilac or occasionally
white, lip usually spotted with darker
purple ... ... ... ... ... 0. latifolia.
3. Flowers pink or occasionally white ... 0. habenarioides.
Tigs. 1 and 2. Orchis incarnata, Linn.
A terrestrial herb. Boot tuberous, flattened, divided into
finger-like lobes. Stem erect, slender, hollow. Leaves not
spotted, erect, lance-shaped, gradually narrowed from a broad
base. The tip hooded. Spike dense-flowered, oblong-