ORCHIDS 153 



odd appearance, but the lip, frilled and blotched, 

 is very beautiful. The spring mechanism of the 

 pollen-box is precisely like that of the previous 

 one. 



ARETHUSA Arethusa bulbosa 

 May-June 



This is probably the most beautiful of our native 

 orchids, though Arethusa and Calypso might easily 

 tie one another in a beauty contest. The stem 

 grows from a small bulbous root to a height of five 

 to ten inches, with a few linear leaves, and bears 

 at its summit the solitary, nodding flower of a 

 lovely rose-purple hue. Above the throat of the 

 flower are three banners and a hood of purple; be- 

 low it, a lip drooping and blotched with purple and 

 yellow. 



Under the hood the column rises and curves 

 forward and downward, guarding the approach 

 to the deep nectar-well. The stigmatic surface 

 is beneath the curved column; and the anther sac 

 at the outer end retains the four pollen masses by 

 a little spring cap. 



The mechanism of Arethusa operates in exactly 

 the same manner as that of the Pogonias, and needs 

 no further description. 



