56 



THE ORCHIDS OF NEW ENGLAND. 



A nearly related but rarer flower, the Whorled Pogonia, P. 

 veriicillata, springing from a fibrous root, comes with Arethusa 

 or follows her pretty closely, and also makes its home in wet 

 places. In Pogonia, " the only group of which Darwin has 

 given no account," for he mentions but one species and then 

 quotes from an American writer, the column arches over the 

 lip, as in Arethusa, but is " free from it, elongated, club-shaped 

 and wingless." The anther is also " terminal and lid-like," but 

 has a stalk, and the powdery-granular pollen-masses are but 2 

 in number, each occupying a cell. It will be seen from the 

 illustration how very long the sepals are when compared with 

 the petals. My sketch was made from a specimen not fully 

 blown, and the three lobes into which the lip in this species is 

 divided are folded together too much. A narrow crest runs 

 down the middle of the lip. Gray calls the flower " dusky 

 purple," but I should prefer, myself, to describe it as brownish- 

 purple, while yellowish specimens have been met with, and 

 Barton's plate represents it as yellow, with the- sepals strongly 

 tinged with brown. The whorl of leaves beneath does not add 

 much grace to the flower, and if it were not so stiff we might 

 call it dishevelled. The whole plant lacks the trimness and 

 poise of Arethusa. 



The occurrence of this Pogonia in the Northern New England 

 States is a matter of doubt, particularly in Maine, where the 

 " Portland Catalogue" issued in 1862, and the botanists of the 

 present day are ranged on opposite sides. From the stations 

 sent me, I judge this Orchid to be more common in Connecti- 

 cut and Massachusetts than is generally supposed. It is met 

 with as far west as Michigan, and as far south as Florida, while 

 a smaller species, P. affinis, bearing greenish-yellow flowers, is 

 so dependent on a genial climate that it has been found but 

 once in New England (at New Haven, Conn.), and, ambitious 

 as I am, I admit that it hardly seems fair to keep it on our 

 list. 



