20 llhodora [January 



usually three to nine to a stem, vary greatly in length, some of them 

 becoming rootstocks by the budding of new stems. Seedling ])lants 

 must therefore develop this system of root-fibers before new plants 

 can arise by budding. Seedlings are, however, very scarce and fully 

 90 per cent of the plants in any single, well developed colony arise by 

 the budding process from the rootstocks. In age the rootstocks be- 

 come very brittle and the older connections are easily destroyed and 

 ajiparently in many cases perish from decay so that while it is common 

 to find a colony a hundred feet in diameter, it is extremely rare to find 

 a single system more than a few feet in extent, owing no doubt to the 

 perishing of the connecting rootstocks after a few seasons. The indi- 

 vidual plants once established are perennial, and fiowcr several seasons 

 at least, as is shown by the withered stems of former seasons, fre- 

 quently found persisting and shown in plate 65. 



The habitat of this species is usually given as "low woods," a state- 

 ment which although not absolutely wrong needs some qualification. 

 The species seems to prefer a moist, soft, rich and well divided leaf- 

 mould and under these conditions is often found on comparatively 

 dry hills, always under some shade, usually of deciduous trees but 

 often evergreens and preferably on a slope with a northern or eastern 

 exposure. 



In some localities (observed in Central New York by the writer) 

 it is found growing in sphagnum and the rhizomes under this condition 

 attain a mucli greater length than in soil. 



The coloring of the floral organs seems to have obtained scanty 

 mention, perhaps from the fact that the plants usually turn black in 

 drying. The two lateral lobes of the lip as well as the lateral margins 

 are tinged and veined with a bright crimson-purple, most vivid at the 

 apex of the lobes, while the broad, crenulate, deflexed middle lobe is 

 pure white. The crest of the lip is green and pa])illosc. The two 

 upper petals are light green and arching above the lip nearly conceal 

 it althotigh the lip and petals spread somewhat a])art in age. The 

 filiform sepals are dull rcddish-])ur])le. 



The whorl of lanceolate leaves is rarely fully developed or even 

 expanded at flowering time as is usually shown in illustrations. The 

 stem of Medeola with which this Pogonia often grows associated is green 

 and glabrous, while that of Pogonia is pur})liHh and covered with a 

 whitish tomentum, affording a ready means of distinguishing between 

 the two at a glance. 



Clemson Colleck, South Carolina. 



