THE FAERY YEAR 



air. This fragrant orchid blossoms a month later 

 in the water meadow and marsh than in the wind- 

 swept downs ; why, I cannot guess. The most 

 beautiful of the commoner wild orchids, perhaps not 

 excepting the bee orchid, with its pretty lip of 

 maroon purple, is the pyramidal. The English 

 orchids are a trifle stiff in manner of growth, the 

 flowers arranged more or less formally at the end 

 of a straight stem ; but this only serves to increase 

 their distinction among wild flowers. 



How can we account for the disappearance of 

 several species of wild orchids in spots where they are 

 not plucked or uprooted by human hands ? Several 

 of the strange mimetic orchids of England are 

 almost extinct, such as the lizard orchid, while the 

 spider orchids are now very rare. Possibly they 

 have suffered through the rarity that makes them a 

 prize coveted by the flower collector. But the 

 pyramidal and the fly orchids will disappear from 

 downs and grassy spots though no one gathers them. 

 Do they go because the insects which cross-fertilize 

 them have become scarce in the district ? 



On the other hand, the bee or one of the butter- 

 fly orchids will suddenly appear and thrive in a new 

 spot. The smaller butterfly orchid has sown itself 

 in a grassy strip of ground between the clearing and 

 wood at my home, where the birch and the bracken 

 are thick the very spot for the tree pipit, which 

 nests there in May. It has abounded here of late 

 seasons, but, if its one seed out of each thousand 

 seeds were prolific, the butterfly orchid soon would 

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