SOME HUMBLE ORCHIDS 151 



Orchises; consequently it must be classed with the 

 botanist's flowers of purely intellectual interest. 



" My eyes are blind with color," said Flower 

 Hat, at the end of fifteen minutes. "I will believe 

 anything you tell me after this, and I 'm going 

 to buy a soft felt hat with a brim that will turn 

 down all round like a cowboy's!" 



Thus was her conversion completed, though she 

 never wholly abandoned flowery hats; and for a 

 reward I took her for our next outing to Time 

 o' Year's wood to spend the day with Ferns, and 

 to see, as she begged, "a nice cool Orchid in a 

 shady place, within sound of running water." 



When August comes, the reign of the Orchid 

 tribe is well-nigh over, and from this month on- 

 ward it is represented by the group of Ladies' 

 Tresses, the slender plants of wet meadows and 

 grass -lands, whose narrow leaves give them at a 

 little distance the appearance of some odd flower- 

 ing grass or of a delicate white flax. If, however, 

 you pick a stalk, round which the florets are set 

 spirally so that the spike appears to be twisted, 

 you will find the tribal likeness, the crystal white 

 texture, and the delicate earthy fragrance. 



