The stems of this plant grow four to eight inches high
from a creeping rhizome. The leaves are narrowly egg-
shaped, bright green and shining on both sides, and the little
dark rose-coloured flowers grow on curved thread-like stalks
at the backs of the upper leaves. The tiny sepals and petals
are both wine-coloured at the base, the petals having yel-
lowish-green reflexed tips. The berries are rounded and
bright red. The Short-stemmed Twisted-stalk closely re-
sembles the Pink Twisted-stalk, but differs from it in having
a much more slender rootstock and shorter stems.
FLY-SPOTTED ORCHIS

Orchis rotundifolia. Orchid Family

Stems: slender. Leaves: leaf solitary, orbicular to oval, with one or
two sheathing scales below it. Flowers: spike two-to-ten flowered, sub-
tended by small bracts; sepals lateral ones spreading; petals similar to
the sepals ; lip longer than the petals, three-lobed, the middle lobe larger,
dilated, notched at the apex; spur slender, shorter than the lip.
PLATE XUV



n..
1L-



Fly-spotted Orchis
{Orchis rolundifolia)



Pink to Red Flowers 20^

A lovely pale pink orchis, with a single roundish leaf
growing at the base and roots composed of fleshy fibres.
The clusters of flowers are slightly fragrant. Each blos-
som has a large, protruding, flat lip of palest pink, spotted
with rose or purple, and divided into three lobes, the centre
one being notched. A wing-like sepal stands out on either
side, and the small petals and sepals are all pink, the arched
petal that is bent down over the stamens being spotted with
rose-purple like the lip. It is found in moist places and
grows to full perfection where very wet ground combined
with a full exposure to the sun is possible.
