II( 5 THE ORCHIDS OF NEW ENGLAND. 



occupied had they been developed. Not only do they stand 

 in this position but the column in some cases . . . has on 

 each side a prominent ridge, running from them to the bases 

 or mid-ribs of the two upper petals ; that is, in the proper 

 position of the filaments of these two stamens. It is impossi- 

 ble to doubt that the two membranes of the clinandrum in 

 Malaxis are formed by these two anthers in a rudimentary and 

 modified condition. Now, from the perfect clinandrum of 



Malaxis, through that of 

 Spiranthes, Goodyera, Epi- 

 pactis latifolia, and E. pa- 

 lustris, to the minute and 

 f\ 1 slightly flattened auricles 



>TS«r ^PiiL\^ m the g enus Orchis, a 



S* ^$W^> perfect gradation can be 



traced. Hence I conclude 



i. Front view of flower o/ Yellow Fringed-Orchis. tnat these auricles are 



2. Side view (natural position). doubly rudimentary; that 



3. The anther with its auricle. 



4 . a poiiinium. is they are rudiments of 



5. Flower of Green Fringed-Orchis. {From Sweet.) 



the membranous sides of 

 the clinandrum, these membranes themselves being rudiments 

 of the two anthers so often referred to. . . . Such vessels 

 may quite disappear. . . . The two upper anthers of the 

 inner whorl are fertile in Cypripedium, and in other cases are 

 generally represented either by membranous expansions or by 

 minute auricles. . . . These auricles, however, are some- 

 times quite absent, as in some species of Ophrys." * 



Summer, in her flight, invariably forgets to drop one flower 

 from her cornucopia at- the proper time; at least it seems so, 

 when we behold at this late day, in damp woods, a little plant 

 that brings the Pogonias to mind. It is the Nodding or Pendent 

 Pogonia (P. pcnduld), and has still another name, Triphora pen- 

 dula, none as musical as the rustic one, Three Birds. This Po- 

 *See, also, Sachs* Text Book of Botany, 1S72, p. 603. 



