AN UNDERGROUND FLOWER 



May 26th 



HE stroller in the moist May woods will well 

 remember those mauve-winged blooms among 

 the moss that seem to flutter in the breeze, 

 like a brood of 

 tiny purple butterflies with 

 fringy tails, or in a shel- 

 tered nook appear to have 

 settled in a swarm among 

 the winter-green leaves. 

 " False winter-green " the 

 plant is commonly called, 

 its leaves bearing a slight 

 resemblance to those of 

 the aromatic checkerberry. 

 It is one of our oddest 

 and prettiest spring flow- 

 ers ; in its very singular 

 shape quite suggesting an 

 orchid, with its two spread- 

 ing petals and deep laven- 

 der-colored tasselled sleeve. 

 But, indeed, it has long 

 been laughing at us in that 



