IO INTRODUCTION. 



me sometimes, in quoting from both authorities, to strip the 

 paragraphs I have interwoven still further of their technical 

 language, if it were not partly my aim to attract those well dis- 

 posed readers who are ordinarily discouraged by the sight of a 

 long array of mysterious words. I hope that enough descrip- 

 tive terms have been taken from Gray's Botany, to furnish 

 what would not be obvious from an inspection of the illustra- 

 tions, and that the abridgment of quoted passages and the re- 

 jection of details has not been carried too far. It should be 

 added that terms such as " front," " outside," " lower," etc., 

 are not always used in the strict sense in which they are em- 

 ployed in the botanies. 



How well worthy of minute examination this single family 

 is, is proved by Darwin's modest confession after twenty years 

 study, that he doubted if he thoroughly understood the con- 

 trivances in any one flower. This has a discouraging sound, at 

 first ; for the possibility of discovering anything that eluded 

 his eyes, keen as those of the hero of a German legend, may 

 well be questioned ; but the field is a tempting one to glean, 

 and as few investigations have been made in America, judging 

 by the scarcity of printed matter relating to the subject, our 

 humblest species still mocks us with its secrets. 



In speaking of the Orchids found in New England I shall 

 arrange them in the order in which they blossom in the vicinity 

 of Burlington, Vermont, where most of my own observations 

 have been made, and shall hope to make my calendar service- 

 able elsewhere, as my arrangement agrees pretty well with lists 

 sent me from other sections. Specific dates are worth con- 

 sidering, it seems to me, although one cannot rely on them, 

 but as a safer guide, especially for those who travel during the 

 period when these plants are in flower, let me say that so far 

 as I can learn, a plant blossoming in Southern Connecticut 

 about the first of any given month would be due in Western 

 Vermont, or the upper Connecticut valley between the ioth 



