2 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 



the petals and spreading from a mostly erect base. The lip, 

 that characteristic part of an orchid, has a narrow crest down 

 the middle but is beardless. The flowers are generally solitary, 

 or with (rarely) a pair to a stem. 



Owing to its sombre colors, one is apt to overlook it in 

 years when it is frequent. Some seasons, as we have seen, it 

 fails, at others I have had it sent to me from six or eight 

 widely scattered places in the State. It grows in low, dense 

 woods, in clumps of several or many plants and is spoken of in 

 Gray's Manual as "rather rare." As that author was ac- 

 customed to use the word, rare, that would usually mean hard 

 to find, yet as I have said, here in Rhode Island it is in some 

 years not at all uncommon. 



The more familiar sweet-scented Pogonia, looks much 

 like Arethusa but is more delicate in color, bears one single 

 leaf near the middle of the stem and a smaller one near the 

 terminal flower. The spoon-shaped lip is bearded, as the 

 name Pogonia signifies and is also fringed. It blooms later 

 than Arethusa and like it is most dainty and charming. 

 It, from its beauty, runs some risk of destruction from ruth- 

 less picking. Unhappily it pulls up readily from the ground 

 and we see it and Arethusa sold in large bouquets on our city 

 streets. 



Another orchid, nearly related to these, and equally lovely 

 is Colopogon meaning beautiful beard. It bears several 

 magenta colored flowers on a stem, these much larger than in 

 the plants before mentioned. Unlike most orchids it bears an 

 erect lip. It is common in wet grounds throughout Rhode Is- 

 land in midsummer. 



Providence, R. I. 



