AN ARISTOCRATIC FAMII.Y. 67 



extinction at the hands of injudicious and greedy collect- 

 ors. 



In the June number of Nature Study I gave some ac- 

 count of the earl}' orchids, with descriptions of their habi- 

 tat. Those to be expected here in May are the Early Cor- 

 al-root {Corallorhiza corallorhiza) , the Stemless and Lar- 

 ger Yellow Lady-slippers {Cypripedizim acajile and liirsu- 

 tuvi) and Arethusa {A. bidbosa.) The last named is a 

 most beautiful little plant, growing in bogs. It has a sin- 

 gle rose-purple flower, most exquisite in hue and shape 

 and texture. Shall I disclose its home ? Never, except 

 to a chosen few, who shall be sworn to secrecy ! The spe- 

 cies has been nearlj^ if not quite exterminated in the best 

 known station, and I certainly will not expose other sta- 

 tions to a similar fate. 



Another orchid of May, a true Orchis {O. spectabilis), 

 may possibly be a resident of the Merrimack basin, but I 

 do not know that it has yet been recorded from it. 



The month of June furnishes some of the showiest and 

 most beautiful of our orchids. Early in the month blooms 

 the Larger Purple Fringed Orchid {^Habenaria grandiflo- 

 ra.) The flowers are in rather loose, large spikes, three 

 to six inches long, which seem to light up the dark, dank 

 nooks in the woods like so man}' torches. The species 

 continues to flower in varying forms till late in August - 

 In this localit}' the June form is scentless, while the form 

 appearing later is very fragrant. Among the latter are 

 also frequently individuals with flowers of pure white. 

 This season has been very unfavorable to the development 

 of the species, and for the first time in ten years I have 

 failed to find a specimen of the later form. This is espe- 

 cially to be regretted at this time, for all my pressed speci- 

 mens were destroyed by the fire. 



Another orchid of early June is the Whorled Pogonia 

 {P. vcrticillata) , which has been found here in three sta- 



