g2 



THE PLANT WORLD. 



Respecting 

 this plant, and 

 considering its 

 beauty, it is 

 quite a common 

 thing to find it 

 in ahnost all 

 woodlands, but 

 the only other 

 representative 

 of the genus in 

 this section, the 

 Fen Orchis 

 [Lpetorchis Lcv- 

 selii), is much 

 less striking in 

 appearance and 

 very rare in oc- 

 currence. 



The former 

 is also one of the 

 most gregarious 

 of orchids being 

 seldom found 

 solitary but 

 nearly always in 



groups of good dimensions and exhibiting all stages of growth and de- 

 velopment from the small single-leaved plant to the most perfect one. 



Whether this is due to perfect fertilization and the very local dis- 

 tribution of the seeds or from the branching of the bulbous bases, I 

 cannot say, but 1 presume from the density of the colonies the latter 

 method was more than likely the chief cause. 



Its methods of fertilization are well worth study, and may give us 

 some light on its propagation. There is no finer field for the student 

 of insect-loving plants than the family of orchids. Let us hope for 

 early observations respecting them. 



My second find of the Fen Orchis was directly west of the city. 

 On the Susquehanna, along a public highway and not over three feet 

 from the wheel track, was a single specimen. Usually both species 

 grow in protected situations. 



Philadelphia, Jan. 13, 1898. 



