Herbs with bracted erect scapes, the leaves basal, tufted, often blotched with white, the roots thick fleshy fibers. Flowers in bracted spikes. Lateral sepals free, the upper one united with the petals into a galea. Lip sessile, entire, roundish ovate, concave or saccate; without callosities, its apex reflexed. Anther without a lid, erect or incumbent, attached to the column by a short stalk; pollinia one in each sac, attached to a small disk which coheres with the top of the stigma, composed of angular grains. [Greek, referring to the pouchlike lip.]

About 25 species, widely distributed in temperate and tropical regions. Type"species: Peramium repens (L.) Salisb.

Spike 1-sided or loosely spiral; lip elongated.

Margin of the lip recurved or flaring.

Anther blunt; beak of stigma shorter than the body.

1.

P. ophioides.

Anther acuminate; beak of stigma as long as body or longer.

2.

P. tesselatum.

Margin of the lip involute.

3.

P. decipiens.

Spike dense, cylindric; lip short-tipped.

1. Peramium Ophioides (Fernald) Rydb. Lesser Rattlesnake Plantain

Fig. 1402

Goodyera repens var. ophioides Fernald, Rhodora

1: 6. 1899. P. ophioides Rydb. in Britton, Man. 302. 1901. Epipactis repens ophioides A. A. Eaton, Proc. Biol.

Soc. Wash. 21: 65. 1908.

Scape 5 -10 high, glandular-pubescent, bearing several small scales. Leaves ovate, the blade 6"-15" long, 4"-8" wide, somewhat reticulated or blotched with white, tapering into a sheathing petiole; spike short, i-sided; flowers greenish white; perianth 1 3/4"-2" long; galea concave, ovate, with a short spreading or slightly recurved tip; lip saccate, with a narrow recurved or spreading apex; column very short; anther 2-celled; pollinia not prolonged into a caudicle.

In woods, Newfoundland to Yukon, South Carolina, Michigan and Colorado. Ascends to 5000 ft. in Virginia. Creeping-root plant. White-plantain. Squirrel-ear. P. repens (L.) Salisb. is restricted to Europe and Asia. July-Aug.

1 Peramium Ophioides Fernald Rydb Lesser Rattlesna 14021 Peramium Ophioides Fernald Rydb Lesser Rattlesna 1403

2. Peramium Tesselatum (Lodd.) Heller. Loddiges' Rattlesnake Plantain

Fig. 1403

Goodyera tesselata Lodd. Bot. Cab. 10: pl. 952. 1824.

Epipactis tesselata A. A. Eaton, Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 21: 66. 1908.

P. tesselatum Heller, Cat. N. A. PI. Ed. 2, 4. 1900.

Scape 6'-12' high, glandular-pubescent, scaly. Leaves ovate, oblong-ovate or ovate-lanceolate, the blade 10"-20" long, 4"-11" wide, bright green, more or less conspicuously marked with white, usually abruptly narrowed into the sheathing petiole; spike 1 1/2-5' long, loosely spiral; flowers whitish, larger than those of P. ophioides; perianth 2"-2 1/2" long; galea broad, the tip recurved; lip slightly saccate at the base, the long tip somewhat recurved; column short.

Mostly in coniferous woods, Newfoundland to Ontario, Pennsylvania and Michigan. July-Sept.

3. Peramium Decipiens (Hook.) Piper. Menzies' Rattlesnake Plantain

Fig. 1404

Spiranthes decipiens Hook. Fl. Bor. Am. 2: 203.

1839. Goodyera Menziesii Lindl. Gen. & Sp. Orch. 492.

1840. P. Menziesii Morong, Mem. Torr. Club 5: 124.

1894. P. decipiens Piper, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 11:

208. 1906. Epipactis decipiens Ames, Orchidaceae 2: 261.

1908.

Scape stout, 8'-15' high, glandular-pubescent. Leaves ovate-lanceolate, 1 1/2'-2. 1/2' long, 8"-15" wide, the blade acute at both ends, often without white blotches or reticulations; spike not 1-sided; flowers greenish white; perianth 4"-4 1/2' long; galea concave, ovate-lanceolate, the tip long, usually recurved, lip swollen at the base, with a long narrow recurved or spreading apex; anther ovate, pointed, on the base of the column, which is prolonged above the stigma into a gland-bearing awl-shaped beak.

In woods, Quebec to British Columbia, New Hampshire, Michigan, Arizona and California. Aug.

3 Peramium Decipiens Hook Piper Menzies Rattlesnak 1404

4. Peramium Pubescens (Willd.) Macm. Downy Rattlesnake Plantain. Net-Wort

Fig. 1405

Neottia pubescens Willd. Sp. PI. 4: 76. 1805. Goodyera pubescens R. Br. in Ait. Hort. Kew. Ed. 2,

5: 198. 1813. Peramium pubescens MacM. Met. Minn. 172. 1892. Epipactis pubescens A. A. Eaton, Proc. Biol. Soc.

Wash. 21: 65. 1908.

Scape 6'-2o' high, densely glandular-pubescent, bearing 5-10 lanceolate scales. Leaves 1'-2' long, 8"-1' wide, strongly white-reticulated, oval or ovate; spike not 1-sided; flowers greenish white; perianth 2V-3" long; lateral sepals ovate; galea ovate, its short tip usually not recurved; lip strongly saccate with a short broad obtuse recurved or spreading tip.

In dry woods, Maine to Ontario and Minnesota, south to Florida and Tennessee. Ascends to 4000 ft. in North Carolina. Adder's-violet. Net-leaf or spotted-plantain. Rattlesnake-leaf. Rattlesnake- or scrofula-weed. Ratsbane. July-Aug.