cultivation of the roscoea collection, and has provided information towards the cultivation section of this article.

REFERENCES

Cowley, E. J. (1982). A revision of Roscoea (Zingiberaceae). Kew Bull. 36(4): 747-777.

Loesener, Th. (1923). Uber einige Roscoea-Arten aus Yunnan. Notizblatt des K . Bot. Gart. Berlin 8: 599-600.

West, Jon P. & Cowley, Jill (1993). Floristicnotes & chromosome numbers of some Chinese Roscoea (Zingiberaceae). Kew Bull. 48(4): 799-803.

239. NOMOCHARIS PARDANTHINA Liliaceae

Victoria Matthews

In 1883 the French missionary PZre Delavay, working in China in western Yunnan Province, collected a hitherto unknown plant which was eventually sent to Paris, together with some of his other specimens. The botanist in Paris who looked at his plants was Adrien Franchet, who realized that not only was the specimen a new species, but that it also represented a new genus. Accordingly, in 1889 he published the new genus, calling it Nomocharis (from the Greek nomos meaning ‘pasture’ and charis meaning ‘beauty’ or ‘charm’).

Franchet (1889) stated that Nomocharis lay between Lilium and Fritillaria: it resembles Lilium in having a bulb which is composed of bulb-scales, anthers which are dorsifixed and a stigma which is somewhat three-lobed rather than trifid, and resembles Fritillaria in possessing deep purple nectaries which are sunk into depressions at the base of the perianth segments. However, it differs from both in having filaments which are swollen and terminate in a needle-like appendage (termed an aciculus) on which the anther is borne.

There are seven species of Nomoc~uris, occurring mainly in western China and adjacent north-east Burma, with a single species in northern Assam. Six species are presently in cultivation, although some are grown only rarely.

Nomocharis pardanthina was the first species of Nomocharis to be cultivated. In 1914 it flowered in the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, having been grown from seed collected by George

18 0 Bentham-Moxon Trust 1994. Published by Blackwell Publishers, I 0 8 Cowley Road, Oxford OX4 IJF, UK and 238 Main Street, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA.

Nomocharis pardanthina

riate ZSY

MARK FOTHERGILL

Forrest in 1910. The specific name comes from the Greekpardos = male panther and anthos = flower, in allusion to the blotched flowers. I t was first introduced into gardens as N . mairei Liv., which was considered for many years to be a separate species. The two were distinguished on the grounds that the inner perianth-segments of N.pardanthina were rounded at the apex rather than pointed as in N. mairei; in addition, N . pardanthina had basically pink flowers whereas those of N. mairei were white. However, further study and collection of more specimens demonstrated that neither character could be used consistently to separate the two taxa.

Nomochuris leucantha Balf. fil. was distinguished from N. pardanthina also by its white flowers and because of this, in 1925, W. E. Evans reduced it to a form ofN. mairei. However, the latter was not equated with N . pardanthina for another 48 years (Sealy, 1983). At the same time that he reduced N. leucantha to a form ofN. mairei, Evans (1925) described another form of N. mairei, forma candida, which possessed pure white, unspotted flowers. This form was exhibited at an RHS show in 1956 when it was given an Award of Merit. When it was shown again in 1964, it was painted by Margaret Stones: the painting is reproduced in The Journal of the Royal Horticultural Society 89: fig. 152 (1964).

N. pardanthina differs from the related N. farreri (W. E. Evans) R. L. Harrow in having flowers with a shorter style (the style of N.farreri is 12-15 mm long) and perianth-segments that are usually spotted all over (except in forma punctulata: see below). From N . meleagrina Franch. it differs mainly in its smaller flowers (50-80 mm across compared with 70-95 mm in N . meleagrina) which have wider inner perianth segments.

There is a hybrid between N . pardanthina and N. farreri, which Patrick Synge named N . Xjnlayomm (Synge, 1968) in honour of Major and Mrs G. Knox Finlay who grew nomocharis so magnific- ently at Keillour Castle in Perthshire. This hybrid is not known in the wild - the specimens in the.Herbarium at Kew are from the Knox Finlays’ garden and from the garden ofAndrew Harley at Devonhall, Dollar, also in Perthshire. The plants are intermediate between the parents, combining characters from each in varying degrees.

CULTIVATION. Nomocharis species have the reptuation of growing much better in Scotland than in England, a reputation which is generally borne out by fact. The wetter, cooler Scottish climate suits them well, being closer to the conditions under which they grow in

0 Bcntham-Moxon Trust 1994. 19

the wild. It should not be assumed, however, that they will not grow well in the south, but rather that they require more attention. All species ofNomocharis should have a moist soil which must neither be allowed to dry out, nor ever become waterlogged. In general the plants grow most happily in semi-shade. They are perfectly hardy in the British Isles and do not need winter-protection. Root disturbance is not appreciated and they dislike being transplanted - indeed moving them can result in decline and death. It is therefore wise to put very young plants straight into their final position in the garden. Little is known about their cultivation on alkaline soils. Nomocharis pardanthina does not differ from the other species in its cultivation requirements.

Propagation is from seed or by detaching bulb scales, as in Lilium. When grown from seed, plants will usually flower in three to six years; the time may be reduced by using scales. In cultivation it blooms in June and July but in the wild it may be found in flower between May and September, presumably being influenced by habitat and altitude.

Nomocharis are mercifully free from pests and diseases, although slugs can eat the young shoots and there are reports ofmice gnawing the bulbs. In those areas in the south of England where lily beetle (Lilioceris lilii) is present, plants can be attacked, and a watch should be kept for this pest.

The plants in the accompanying plate were grown in a pot in the Alpine House at Kew and are young plants which have only produced a single smallish flower on each stem. They were raised from seed collected in 1990 on the Chungtien-Lijiang-Dali Expedition to Yunnan under the number CLD 133 1.

N. pardanthina Franchet in J. Bot. (Morot) 3: 113 (1889). Type: China, Yunnan, ‘in pascuis montis Koua-la-po supra Hokin’, 2 June 1883, Delavay 257 (P). N . mairei Ltv. in Feddes Rep. Sp. Nov. 12: 287 (1913). Type: China,

Yunnan, Ta Hai, 3,200 m, Maire (E). N . leucantha Balf. fil. in Trans. Bot. SOC. Edinb. 27: 276 (1918). Syntypes:

China, W. Yunnan, Tali Range, eastern flank, 1 I-13,000 ft., Forrest 3845,7160.

N. mairei Ltv. forma leucantha (Balf. fil.) W. E. Evans in Notes Roy. Bot. Gard. Edinb. 15: 29 (1925).

N . mairei Ltv. forma candida W. E. Evans, loc. cit. Type not cited.

DESCRIPTION. Bulb ovoid, 25-30 mm long, 15-25 mm wide. Stem 25- 90 cm tall. Leaves borne mostly in whorls of 3-8, sessile, elliptic to lanceolate,

20 0 Bentham-Moxon Trust 1994.

occasionally ovate; 30-105 mm long, 10 - 27 mm wide, apex acute or more or less so. Pedicels 20-80 mm long. Flowers up to 8, occasionally more, nodding or outward facing, 50-80 mm across, opening out to more or less flat, the ground colour white to rose-pink. Perianth-segments purple or maroon at the base, covered with small purple or maroon blotches, rarely white, unblotched; outer segments 25-45 mm long, 15-25 mm wide, ovate, margin entire; inner segments 26-45 mm long, 24-36 mm wide, widely ovate to more or less orbicular, upper half with margin deeply fringed. Nectaries consisting of a short furrow with low, purplish, yellow-toothed flanges of tissue arranged in a fan shape on either side. Stamens c. 13 mm long; filaments purplish, 6-8 mm long, cylindrical or wider a t the top, aciculus 1.5-3 mm long; anthers crimson-maroon, 3-4 mm long; pollen yellow or orange. Oualy cylindrical or wider towards top, 5-8 mm long; style 7-10 mm long, widening above to the lobulate stigma. Fruit-capsule broadly cylindrical, 25-30 mm long, 20-25 mm wide, 3-grooved. Seeds ovate, 6-7 mm long, 4-5 mm wide, flat, surrounded by a narrow wing.

DISTRIBUTION. China, in north-west Yunnan and southern Sichuan. HABITAT. Pastures and grassy places, often on forest margins and open

coniferous woodland, 2,00C-4,000 m.

forma punctulata Sealy in Notes Roy. Bot. Gard. Edinb. 36: 295 (1978). This plant was cultivated for years as N . pardanthina. I t differs from the

typical plant in having the perianth-segments finely spotted only near the

Nornocharis pardanthina. A, ovary, style and stigma, X 6; B, stamen, X 6; C, nectary at base ofinner perianth segment, X 6. Drawn by Mark Fothergill.

0 Bentham-Moxon Trust 1994. 21

base, rather than blotched all over, and by the margins of the inner segments being only minutely erose rather than deeply fringed.

REFERENCES

Evans, W. E. (1925). A revision of the genus Nomocharis. Notes from the

Franchet, A. R. (1889). Nomocharis, nouveau genre de Liliactes-TulipCes.

Sealy, J. R. (1983). A revision ofthe genus Nomocharis Franchet. Botanical

Synge, P. M. (1968). Some nomocharis at Keillour. R H S Lily Year Book

Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh 15: 1-45.

Journal de Botanique [ed. L. Morot] 3: 113-1 14.

Journal of the Linnean Society 87: 285-323.

32: 105-107.

240. HIMANTOGLOSSUM HIRCINUM Orchidaceae

Jeffrey Wood and Sandra Bell

A new siting in Britain of the LIZARD ORCHID is a newsworthy event, not only because it is a rarity ofsporadic occurrence but also because of its striking appearance. There is little likelihood of confusing this bizarre orchid with any other British species. The peculiar greyish-green coloured flowers, with their remarkable twisted ribbon-like lip and unpleasant odour of goats, are very distinctive, this last characteristic inspiring Linnaeus to give it its Latin epithet ‘hircinum’, meaning goat-like.

Five species of the genus Himantoglossum K. Koch are recognized (Wood, 1983), distributed in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, one extending eastwards as far as the eastern Caucasus and Talish mountain range.

H . hircinum, the most familiar species, is found in western, central and central-southern Europe and North Africa.

The earliest written record of the LIZARD ORCHID in Britain dates from 1641 between Dartford and Crayford in Kent where it continued to flourish until about 1850, after which it died out for some unknown reason, probably habitat destruction. This may have been exacerbated by natural causes or through intensive collecting during the Victorian period. During the following fifty years it remained a rarity, appearing only sporadically in scattered localities in south-eastern England. Throughout this time it was regarded and recorded as being very rare, probably dying out or even extinct.

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