Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis) 



David M. Walsten 



#? Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis) 

 Lobelia Family (Lobeliaceae) 



This is one of the most brilliant wildflowers of America. A 

 color-film photo cannot really do justice to the shining bril- 

 liance of this red flower. A good place to look for it is in late 

 summer, in the Kankakee River valley of northern Indiana, 

 where many drainage ditches have been constructed along the 

 roads; the plant delights to grow in these ditches. 



# Orange Fringed Orchid (Habenaria ciliaris) 

 Orchid Family (Orchidaceae) 



It would be hard to find a native wildflower more bizarre (and 



(V re beautiful) than this plant. Its brilliant orange blossoms 



resemble witches' heads to a remarkable degree. Pepoon, in 



his Flora of the Chicago Region, alluded to this fact with pictures 

 and text on pages 235, 236, and 237. Unfortunately, the plant 

 is now extremely rare in the Chicago region; it reaches its peak 

 of bloom the first week of August. 



Literary-minded readers will want the other verses of Helen 



Hunt Jackson's poem "September": 



The goldenrod is yellow, the com is turning brown, 

 The trees in apple orchards with fruit are bending down. 



From dewy lanes at morning the grapes' sweet odors rise, 

 At noon the roads all flutter with yellow butterflies. 



B31 all these lovely tokens September days are here, 



With summer's best of weather and autumn's best of cheer. 



Orange-Fringed Orchid (Habenaria ciliaris) 



