68 NATURE STUD\. • 



tions, two in Manchester and one in Auburn. The plant 

 has a whorl of five leaves near the top and closely resem- 

 bles the Indian cucumber, for which, when not in bloom, 

 it might easily be mistaken. The flower is more interest- 

 ing than beautiful, the most marked feature being the 

 long and narrow^ dark purple sepals. The home of the 

 species is in moist woods, and one who finds it is in luck, 

 for the plant is rather rare and local. 



The Rose Pogonia {P. ophioglossoides) — please do not 

 call it " Adder's Tongue " — is more common and is worth 

 plunging through meadow and bog for. The single flow- 

 er (occasionally there are two) is delicate sea-shell pink 

 in hue and deliciously fragrant, and the lip is beautifully 

 fringed and crested, a most tempting landing place for in- 

 sects. As the plant has the habit of propagating by run- 

 ning rootstocks, one will usually find a good many where 

 he finds any. 



Two or three weeks later blooms the Calopogon {C. piil- 

 chellus), another beautiful species. Instead of a single 

 flower, the plants bear several in a loose spike. The col- 

 or of the flowers varies from light to dark purple, and the 

 lip, instead of being pendent, as is usual in the famil}^, is 

 erect. The plants usually grow in localities similar to 

 those which yield the rose pogonia but a little drier. 



Late in June I have been so fortunate as to find just once 

 the two New England species of Liparis, L. liliifolia in 

 Manchester and L. Loeselii in Concord. Though I have 

 visited the stations almost every year since. I have thus far 

 been unable to find another plant. They appear to be in 

 thisVicinity rare, local and evanescent. Yet there maybe 

 hundreds of them blooming unseen in moist thickets and 

 on springy banks. In both species there are two broad 

 shining leaves at the base of the low scape, and at the top 

 there is a raceme of flowers which in L. liliifolia are pur- 

 plish and in L. Loeselii greenish in hue. 



