I4O SOME HUMBLE ORCHIDS 



that the insects necessary for their fertilization 

 have found them out in their new home. 



Except when we search for the Rattlesnake 

 Plantain of late Summer, the Orchid path now 

 leads altogether through open places, springy 

 pastures, bogs and meadows, that were long ago 

 redeemed from the bog condition but which are 

 deep with the black soil and firmly -rooted growths 

 of other days. 



Farther north in the Litchfield country, the 

 pink -purple Arethusa may be discovered making 

 rosy patches in the open Cranberry swamps of early 

 June, if you have the patience, clear eye and steady 

 footing necessary to penetrate her haunts; for, like 

 Calypso, these flowers, with nymphs for sponsors, 

 are furtive and elusive, even where they gather in 

 considerable numbers. 



In middle June the Rose Pogonia or Snake - 

 mouth, bearing a strong resemblance to Arethusa 

 in shape and color, though a smaller flower, is 

 found in the grassy bog meadows from Wakeman's 

 Island all up along the waterways quite through 

 Lonetown. It does not grow in water, but among 

 tufted grasses where threading springs that ooze 

 up, drop by drop, keep its roots moist, the haunt 

 beloved by the Blue Fringed Gentian of Autumn. 



