ORCHIDACEAE ORCHIS FAMILY 
PUTTYROOT. ADAM AND EVE 
Aplectrum hyemale (Muhl.) Torr. 
This plant arises from a corm, attached to a second 
one which will give rise to the next year’s plant. This 
attachment accounts for the name Adam and Eve, and 
the name Puttyroot refers to 
the consistency of the corms. 
This Orchid is found in rich 
woods from Vermont to Sas- 
katchewan and Oregon, south to 
Georgia, Missouri and California. 
It is rare in Illinois, having so far 
been recorded less than a dozen 
times, and then as isolated plants 
from widely separated parts of the 
state. 
The flowering stem is 1-2 feet oo 
high and usually bears 3 scales but no yi i 
leaves. A single thick and dull green Re \\! 
basal leaf is produced in late season é S\\ ZA 
and when fally grown is oblong-ovate is 
and 3-5 inches in length. It lies all 4 | t 
winter on the ground attached to the . 
plant, and by spring the underside has 
assumed an exquisite reddish purple hue. 
Before the new flower stalk begins to grow, 
the leaf disappears. 
\\e 
The flowers, blooming in May or June, 
are dull yellowish brown mixed with 
purple. The 3 sepals and the lateral petals 
are quite similar, linear-lanceolate and about one-half inch long. 
The oblong lip is somewhat shorter than the other petals, blunt, 
barely 3-lobed and with its margin fringed. The column 1s shorter 
than the lip and slightly curved. The oblong-ovoid capsule is 
angled and a little less than 1 inch long. 
A pale, pure yellow form of this plant is sometimes found, and 
may be growing along with the spotted. 
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