ORCHIDACE.^— ORCHID 

 FAMILY 



LADY'S TRESSES 



Spirdnthes cernna. Gyrostachys cernna 



Spiranthes, Greek, from speira, a curl, and anthus, 

 flower. 



Native, perennial. An orchidaceous plant, 



bearing small white flowers in three ranks, 



closely crowded, and more or less spirally twisted, 



variable. Nova Scotia to Florida, Minnesota, 



New Mexico, and Louisiana. 



Stem. — Leafy below and leafy-bracted above, six 

 inches to two feet high, often nodding. 



Leaves. — Linear-lanceolate, variable, usually disap- 

 pearing before the flowering season. 



Flowers. — Of the orchidaceous type, small, pure 

 white, sweet-scented, three-ranked, borne on a slender 

 cyHndrical spike about which they curve in a spiral twist. 



This is the last Orchid of the season to blossom, 

 and companions the Fringed Gentian and the 

 Witch Hazel; it may bloom earlier, but the 



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