I04 Bog-Trotting for Orchids 



found the fresh bracted processes of a spike containing 

 several ovaries instead of one, as in the Moccasin- 

 Flower. Evidentl}^ this plant was not a species of 

 Cypripedium ; and although the scape was broken, 

 enough of the alternating process of twisting ovaries 

 remained to assure me that I had found a colony of the 

 early and Showy Orchis {^Orchis spedabilis), which is 

 one of the first species of orchids to bloom in New 

 England. Indeed, it is said to open the orchid season 

 as early as May 19th, and is found with the Wake- 

 Robins and Arbutus, when the woods are otherwise 

 bare and brown. I secured three of the finest plants. 



My basket was now laden with choice species, in- 

 cluding those of the Ram's- Head, the Showy Orchis, 

 and two species of Habenaria, a sister genus of Orchis 

 spcdabilis. The locality had proven a treasure-ground 

 to me, for here were both the Great and the Small 

 Round-Leaved Orchis (^Habenaria orbicidata and Habe- 

 naria Hookeriana); while the Tall Green Orchis 

 (Habetiaria hyperborea) dwells in the deeper bogs along 

 the stream. 



The leaves of the Purple-Fringed Orchis {Habenaria 

 gra7idiflora) are hidden in the borders of the open 

 meadow. I found a few plants of that very rare orchid 

 called Adder' s-Mouth {AchroaJithes unifolia), seldom if 

 ever before collected in this town. The plants are so 

 small and inconspicuous that one may search long 

 without seeing them. Two stood among the select 

 company of Ram's-Heads, while others grew along a 

 damp, silent brook bed that had ceased to flow, — a 



