Spiranthes
(from speiros, a spiral, and anthos, a flower; alluding to the spiral inflorescence). Lady's Tresses. SYNS. Aristotelea (of Loureiro), Cyclopogon, Gyrostachys, Ibidium. Including Sarcoglottis, Sauroglossum, and Stenorhynchus. ORD. Orchideae. A large genus (about eighty species) of stove, greenhouse, or hardy, terrestrial Orchids, broadly dispersed over temperate and tropical regions. Flowers small or rather large, in unilateral or dense, sessile spikes; dorsal sepals and petals erect, connivent or slightly coherent in an upper lip or hood, or the ends alone spreading; lateral sepals free and more spreading, all nearly equal; lip sessile or distinctly clawed, often embracing the terete column by its broad base, spreading at apex, undivided or three-lobed. Leaves variable. Stem leafy, or leafless when flowering. Root-fibres often fascicled on a short rhizome, sometimes thickened into a tuber. The cultivated species are here described. Except where otherwise indicated, stove treatment is necessary. The hardy species thrive in turfy loam, amongst which pieces of chalk or limestone should be mixed; the stove and greenhouse ones succeed in well-drained pots filled with a mixture of turfy loam and fibrous peat, and during the season of rest these latter should be kept rather dry. Propagation is effected by carefully dividing the rootstocks of old plants, just before growth commences.
S. aestivalis (summer). fl. and bracts as in S. autumnalis, but rather larger; spike slightly pubescent, slender, many-flowered. July and August. l. 2in. to 6in. long, narrowed below; lower ones on the flowering stem linear, resembling the radical leaves. Stem 6in. to 18in. high, glabrous. Western Europe (Britain). Hardy. (Sy. En. B. 1473.)
S. australis (Southern). fl. generally pink, with a white lip, sessile; lateral sepals obscurely dilated at base, but not saccate; the broad base of the lip quite sessile, or sometimes appearing raised on a very short claw, with a tubercle on each side; spike spiral, very dense or rather loose. June. l., lower ones linear or narrow-lanceolate, 1 1/2in. to 4in. long; upper ones reduced to scales. Stem 6in. to 12in. or more high. Australia, New Zealand, tropical and temperate Asia, extending to some parts of Europe. 1823. Greenhouse. SYN. Neottia australis.
S. autumnalis (autumnal). fl. white, fragrant, sheathed by the cucullate, cuspidate bracts; lip channelled at the base, the tip exserted, crenate; spike slender. August and September. l. 1in. long, in lateral rosettes, ovate, acute, appearing after the flowers. Stem 4in. to 8in. high; upper part and inflorescence pubescent. Europe (Britain), &c. Hardy. (Sy. En. B. 1472.)
S. bicolor (two-coloured). fl. greenish, with a white lip; sepals gibbous below the lip; lip complicated, keeled on the back, cucullate at the dilated base; spike loose, spiral, 2in. to 4in. long, densely glandular-pubescent. January. l., lowest rosulate, oblong-lanceolate, acuminate, disappearing before flowering. Stem distantly sheathed with minute leaves. h. 1ft. Trinidad, 1823. (B. R. 794, under name of Neottia bicolor.)
S. bracteosa (bracteate). fl. white and yellow; lateral sepals connate at base; middle lobe of lip three-lobed; bracts linear-lanceolate, leafy, longer than the flowers; spike rarely straight. May. l. rosulate, oblong, acute. h. 1ft. Brazil, 1835. (B. R. 1934.)
S. cernua (drooping). fl. pure white, sweet-scented, pubescent or nearly smooth; lip oblong and very obtuse when outspread (when not so, conduplicate, or the margins much incurved), the callosities at the base prominent; spike cylindrical, rather dense, 2in. to 5in. long. September and October. l. linear-lanceolate, the lowest elongated, 4in. to 12in. long. Stem leafy below, 6in. to 20in. high. North America, 1796. Hardy. (B. M. 5277; B. R. 823.) SYN. Neottia cernua (B. M. 1568; S. B. F. G. 42).
S. cinnabarina (cinnabar-coloured).* fl. yellowish-flesh-coloured, urceolate, slightly tomentose; segments yellowish within, approximating, reflexed at apex; lip whole-coloured; bracts coloured, acute; spike conical, thyrsoid, spirally twisted. June. l. lanceolate, sheathing, acute. Stem cylindrical, pale reddish, 2ft. to 3ft. high. Mexico, 1846. SYN. stenorhynchus cinnabarinus (B. R. 1847, 65). Greenhouse.
S. colorans (coloured).* fl. scarlet, glabrous, 2/3in. long, approximate; lip oblong-linear, shortly acuminate; bracts oblong-lanceolate, acuminate, as long as the flowers; spike 2in. to 3in. long. April. l. elliptic or elliptic-oblong, acute, 4in. to 6in. long. h. 2ft. West Indies and Mexico to Venezuela, 1790. SYNS. Neottia speciosa (A. B. R. i. 3; B. M. 1374; H. E. F. 3, 4; L. B. C. 838), Stenorhynchus speciosus. Greenhouse.
S. c. maculata (spotted). l. variegated with bright green spots on a darker ground. 1883.
S. c. Ortgiesii (Ortgies'). fl. rose-coloured. l. marked with large white blotches. 1873.
S. elata (tall). fl. greenish, 1/4in. long; lip linear, blunt, entire; spike elongated, spiral, pubescent, 3in. to 8in. long; scape glabrous, sheathed with clasping-tubular, acuminate scales. July. l. rosulate, elliptic or elliptic-oblong, acute, petiolate, 2in. to 6in. long. h. 1 1/2ft. to 2ft. West Indies, 1790. SYNS. Neottia elata (B. M. 2026; L. B. C. 343), N. minor (A. B. R. 376).
S. e. Lindleyana (Lindley's). fl. greenish-white, sub-sessile, in pairs, turned to one side; lip dilated, and turned down at the apex with lateral, recurved margins. February. l. variegated. Caraccas. This resembles S. bicolor and S. cernua; from the former it may be distinguished by its much shorter leaves and scape, and from the latter by its broader leaves and blunt lip.
S. Esmeralda (Esmeralda). fl. greenish-white, finally yellowish; outer perigone oblique, with glandular hairs outside the sepals; upper sepal ligulate, acute, the lateral ones nearly equal; petals lanceolate, acute, unequal-sided; lip oblong, pandurate or ovate, acute, with two conical, retrorse calli at base; spike spiral, elongated, many-flowered, glandular-hairy; scape above 1 1/2ft. high, with many sheaths. l. rosulate, cuneate-oblong, acute, dark green, blotched with white. Brazil, 1862. (Ref. B. 121.) SYN. S. margaritifera.
S. euphlebia (veined). fl. not numerous, but crowded, horizontal, shortly pedicellate; perianth white, with red and brown veins on the free portions of the sepals and petals, pubescent externally; sepals united in a tube 1/2in. long; petals semi-lanceolate, erect; scape light greenish-brown. November. l. all radical, 5in. to 6in. long, 1 1/2in. to 2in. broad, linear or obovate-oblong. h. 1ft. to 1 1/2ft. Brazil, 1882. (B. M. 6690.)
S. grandiflora (large-flowered). A synonym of S. picta grandiflora.
S. margaritifera (pearl-bearing). A synonym of S. Esmeralda.
S. orchioides (Orchis-like). fl. lurid, puberulous; sac produced beyond the adnate portion into a bluntly conical, free spur, one-half the length of the ovary; lip oblong, pointed; spike 3in. to 5in. long. November. l. late in appearing, long, broadly lanceolate, pointed. h. 2ft. to 3ft. West Indies and Mexico to Brazil, 1826. SYN. Neottia orchioides (B. M. 1036; B. R. 701).
S. picta (painted). fl. greenish-white or variegated, eight to ten lines long, distant; sepals and petals linear-oblong, the lateral sepals decurrent; lip included, oblong, channelled below the veiny summit, dilated at base; spike 4in. to 6in. long, hairy; scape glabrous below, sheathed with acuminate scales. February. l. coetaneous, lanceolate or elliptic-oblong, 4in. to 6in. long, tapering into the petioles. h. 1ft. to 2ft. West Indies, &c., 1843. (B. R. 823, under name of S. cernua.)
S. p. grandiflora (large-flowered). fl., sepals, petals, and lip greenish within. l. almost unspotted. Brazil, Guiana. SYNS. S. grandiflora (B. R. 1043), Neottia grandiflora (B. M. 2730).
S. p. variegata (variegated). fl., sepals, petals, and lip white within. l. variegated. SYNS. Neottia acaulis (S. E. B. 105), N. picta (B. M. 1562; L. B. C. 214).
S. Romanzoviana (Count Romanzov's). fl. white, much larger and broader than in S. aestivalis; lip tongue-shaped, contracted below the recurved tip, the tubercles at the base smooth and shining; spike 2in. to 3in. long, stout, glandular-pubescent. August and September. l., radical ones on the flowering stem narrow obovate-lanceolate, 3in. to 6in. long. Stem from 6in. to 10in. high, leafy throughout. Europe (Britain), &c. Hardy. (G. C. n. s., xvi. p. 465; Sy. En. B. 1474, under name of S. gemmipara.)
S. Sauroglossum (lizard-tongued). fl., sepals green, broader towards the apex; upper petal agglutinate, the lateral ones arcuate; lip white, parallel with the column, linear, channelled, sessile; bracts subulate; raceme 1ft. or more long, dense, cylindrical; scape nearly 2ft. long, sheathed with distant, leafy scales. April. l. radical, oblong-lanceolate, sub-erect, fleshy, not plicate, one-third the length of the scape. Brazil, 1832. SYN. Sauroglossum elatum (B. R. 1618). As the genus Sauroglossum is merged into Spiranthes, and the old specific name of plant here described was pre-occupied, it has been necessary to give a new specific name.
S. Smithii (Smith's). fl., in one variety, yellow, the lip marked with a few green veins; in another, brownish, having a yellowish lip striped with green; peduncle many-flowered. Costa Rica, 1868. This plant is allied to S. picta.
S. Weirii (Weir's). fl. reddish; raceme elongated, furnished with white, cuspidate bracts. l. petiolate, oblong, acute, above dark purple, freely spotted with cream-colour, below purplish. New Grenada, 1870.