The Plant World 



A MONTHLY JOURNAL OF POPULAR BOTANY. 



Vol. l SEPTEMBER, 1898. No. 12 



ORCHIDS ON LONG ISLAND. 



By Augusta Schenck Kalbfleisch. 



LONG ISLAND, although enjoying a reputation for ugliness 

 and general barrenness, which I make bold to say is unde- 

 served, merits, nevertheless, much attention in the eyes of the 

 botanist, on account of its lavish display of wild flowers, in- 

 cluding among its numerous varieties many which are mistaken by 

 the non-botanist for rare specimens of hot-house culture. 



Foremost among these are the orchids, species of which may be 

 found during the suminer, from May until October. 



Probably the first to appear is the Pink Lady's Slipper or Mocca- 

 sin Flower {Cypripcdnun acaulc), a strikingly beautiful flower both in 

 form and color, which grows on a scape from six to eighteen inches 

 high, arising from two heavily veined, hirsute green leaves. The 

 perianth is six-parted, the lip of a dull heliotrope pink (less robust 

 specimens I have found almost white, while the strong ones are of a 

 very deep hue). It is usually two or three inches in length, with the 

 dark purple veinings prominent. The five sepals, waving and twisted, 

 are dark brown in color, evenly streaked with a deeper shade of the 

 same tone. This orchid generally abounds in dry oak woods, where 

 it pushes through the dead leaves, unfolding its bud about May 

 fifteenth. Some two weeks later in sheltered, marshy ground, ap- 

 pears the Arethusa [Arethusa bulbosa). I have found small clumps 

 of these orchids, raising their heads like so many sentinels, beneath 

 an almost bare bush of Poison Sumac, where I dared not reach for 

 them. They are borne on a short stem, about eight inches in height, 

 and upon it is closely pressed a linear leaf, which does not expand 

 until after the flower has perished. The perianth is a bright magenta; 

 the protruding lip, an inch or more long, is crested and frinv:ed with 

 yellow. This orchid always claims a certain interest, as only one 

 other species of Arethusa is known, a native of Japan. 



