THE ORCHIDS OF NEW ENGLAND. 



57 



Some Orchids belonging to the Arethuseae, natives of Aus- 

 tralia and New Zealand, as described by Darwin, have such 

 sensitive lips that when touched they spring up, shutting the 

 insect within the flower and either forcing it against the pollen- 

 masses, or, as in Cypripedium, compelling it to carry off the 

 pollen as it escapes by some narrow passage. The lips after a 

 time, varying in one species " from half an hour to one hour 

 and a half," re-open and are ready for another visit. 



" Few flowers," says a competent writer, " have suffered ruder 

 divisions at the hands of botanists than Orchids." The Habe- 

 narias have been peculiarly unfortunate in this respect, but a 

 change that cannot be regretted was made in 1877, when H. 

 rotundi folia, the O. rotundifolia of Pursh, and the P. rotiindifolia 

 of Lindley, was reassigned by Gray as a True Orchis to its 

 proper place by the side of O. spcctabilis, which had been hav- 

 ing a lonely tims as the sole representative in this part of the 

 world of a prolific genus. The Round-leafed Orchis lives 

 on mossy knolls, or tucked away under ferns in damp cedar 

 woods, and is a small but exceedingly pretty plant. It has but 

 one leaf; " its lateral sepals spread like those of most European 

 species ; " its waxy flowers are tinged and the lip is dotted with 

 purple. Hooker's description, " pale, dirty white," simply ma- 

 ligns them. If far enough north, for like Calypso this dainty 

 Orchis requires cold, you will probably gather it before the 

 Arethusas fade, and in their vicinity. 



Any swamp is a treasure-house at this time of year to one 

 who wades recklessly into it. The treacherous sphagnum, 

 shading through all the tints of green into rich reds and 

 umbers, lures you on by offering a bird's nest here and a bizarre 

 mushroom there, till wet feet seem a very small price to pay 

 for so great an amount of pleasure. The Linnea swings her 

 fragrant bells ; the Bunch-berry masses her involucres into 

 a semblance of the snow-drifts that lay there not so very long 

 ago ; the Pitcher-plant offers her brimming beakers ; slender 



