CRESTED YELLOW ORCHIS, H. cristata, is much the 

 same, but smaller, with deep-orange flowers. 



PRAIRIE WHITE FRINGED ORCHIS, H. leucophaea, is a 

 larger variety, with fragrant, white flowers sometimes 

 tinged with green. The lip is divided in three parts and 

 is much fringed. It blooms on moist prairies in July 

 from western New York to the Mississippi. It is very 

 showy and beautiful. 



The flowers of this group remind one of tiny dancers 

 poised for the ballet, or a swarm of fairies ready for flight. 



PLATE XXI 



LARGE PURPLE FRINGED ORCHIS, H. grandiflora. 

 Root. Fleshy, fibrous. Stem. Stout, i-5 high. 

 Leaves. Oval or lanceolate. Flowers. In a long, 

 terminal, thickly flowered raceme, very showy, white, 

 pale pink, or deep rose-purple. Perianth. Upper sepals 

 and petals connected, erect. Petals more or less toothed. 

 Lip divided in three fan-shaped parts, deeply fringed. 

 Column ,4). Anthers (a) divided by the stigma (b). 



The largest and most beautiful of all this genus is the 

 Purple-Fringed Orchis. It grows in rich woods and 

 meadows through Canada west to Michigan and south 

 to North Carolina. When we surprise a group shining 

 through our dark, Northern woods in July or August, 

 their feathery loveliness is like a touch of the tropics. 

 If we could be content to admire them there and leave 

 them untouched, we might have them with us for many 

 generations to come. 



SMALLER PURPLE FRINGED ORCHIS, H. psycodes, is 

 much the same, with shorter fringe. It blooms with the 

 larger variety, but slightly later. 



FRINGELESS PURPLE ORCHIS, H. peramoena, is another 

 near relative, with a toothed instead of a fringed lip. 

 It ranges in summer, from New York south to Virginia 

 and west to Illinois. 



ANDREW'S ROSE-PURPLE ORCHIS, H. Andrewseii, has 

 sepals and petals much like the White-Fringed, and a lip 

 like the Purple-Fringed Orchis, parted and more deeply 

 cut. It appears in summer, in Massachusetts and Ver- 

 mont. This is probably a hybrid of H. lacera and H. 



21 



