284 Bog-Trotting for OrcHids 



I.— APLBCTRUM SPICATUM (Walter) B. S. P., i788-i888» 



{Aplectrufn hyemale Nuttall, 181 8) 



Putty-Root— Adam-and-Eve ^ 



The specific name, spicatuni, refers to the flowers growing in 

 a spica, or spike. 



Tall, spiked damp sandy woodland or bogland orchid, with 

 bulbous or corm-like roots. May 22d-July ist (Northern vStates) ; 

 April 2oth-July ist (Southern States). 



Flowers, 1-9 dull yellowish-brown, mixed with purple, i 

 inch long, short-pediceled, in a loose raceme 2-4 inches long. 

 Labellum shorter than petals, 3-lobed. Sepals and petals }4. inch 

 long, linear-lanceolate. Stem or scape 1-2 feet high, producing 

 3 scales above the leaf. Leaf i, basal, arising at side of scape, 

 from the latest bulb or corm ; elliptic, 4-6 inches long, ap- 

 pearing about September 9th, hyemal — lasting through the 

 winter. 



Continental Range— Vroro. Ontario, southward to Georgia 

 and Alabama ; westward to Minnesota, Oregon, Idaho, Wash- 

 ington, and probably California. 



This species, like those of Corallorhiza, is not a definite 

 dated flowering orchid ; in the Virginian ravines it blooms as 

 early as April 20th while in Wisconsin, and Missouri it blooms 

 as late as July ist. The average date for New England is from 

 May 22d-June 25th. 



New England Range — Maine, rare ; New Hampshire, rare ; 

 Vermont, rare; Massachusetts, rare ; Rhode Island, not re- 

 ported ; Connecticut, rare. 



TABLE OF MEASUREMENTS. 



ENGLISH METRIC. 



i^ inch (i'') = 2 millimetres (mm.). 

 I inch (i') = 2.5 centimetres (cm.). 

 I foot (1°) = 3 decimetres (dm.). 



* Species not reported for Hoosac Valley region, although 

 native of Vermont. 



^ The common name, Putty-Root, arose from the putty-like 

 consistency of the adhesive substance of the old corms or bulbs ; 

 used to mend broken china. The name Adam-and-Eve origin- 

 ated with the colored folk in Georgia and Alabama. The bulbs 

 are not disagreeable to eat if baked, and many confess to be 

 fond of them. The colored people in the South are said to 

 wear these bulbs as amulets, and attribute great favor to them 

 in casting lots. By separating the offsets, they designate them 

 Adam-and-Eve, as the rule may be, and placing them in a bowl 

 of water decide their good or ill fortune in obtaining work, or 

 a lover, according as Adam or Eve '* pops up." 



