6 THE PLANT WORLD. 



They are also five or six inches lower than the rest of the meadow, 

 where the mat of tanofled roots, &c., was not completely destroyed, and 

 it will no doubt take a hundred yeais or more, under natural conditions, 

 to completely restore the mat and repair the damage of the fire of 

 1892. 



THE TALL GREEN ORCHIS {HABENARIA HTPERBO- 

 REA) VISITED BY MOSQUITOES. 



B}^ C. A. Crandali.. 



Early in August our party went into cam}) on the Medicine Bow 

 Range at an altitude of 10,200 feet, and here for four days coni[)ara- 

 tive idleness was forced upon us. The weather was provokingly un- 

 favorable for the collection of i)lants. Clouds hung low on the })eaks 

 above us and at frequent intervals gave out showers of rain that kept 

 everything dripping. The wind was raw, the temperature low and al- 

 together the conditions were not such as to promote cheerfulness. Of 

 course there was work to do — there always is when in the field, no mat- 

 ter what the weather conditions — but the two things we most desired, 

 namely, to collect the alpine plants and to spread wet dryers were of 

 necessity post})oned. Moscpiitoes were very abundant and evidently 

 trying by industry to compensate for the short iiours forced upon 

 them by the low temperature. The tents were full of them, all hun- 

 gry fellows Avho indulged in no preliminaries, but worked quickl}^ and 

 incessantly. They diverted attention from the work in hand and (tailed 

 forth frequent remarks that were not intended to be complimentary. 



The monotony which quickly settles upon a wet camp renders any 

 little diversion interesting, and when it was remarked that one of our 

 mosquito visitors was abnormally developed, there was a scramble to 

 catch her. This accomplished it was seen that she carried two, freshly 

 taken pollinia from some orchid. The long slender caudicles at once 

 suggested the common Jlahevarhi /lyperhorea^ but in order to be cer- 

 tain and to furnish proof to the doubter, gum boots and slicker were 

 donned and a journey made to a nearby bog from which a dozen or 

 more plants were quickly gathered. Returning to camp a pencil was 

 sharpened and carefully thrust into one of the flowers. On withdrawal 

 it brought the pollinia firmly attached, and comparison convinced all 

 hands that they were identical with those borne by the mosquito. 



