vi Preface 



as the migrating species from the East and West, meet 

 and overlap each other. 



Many people are accustomed to think of the orchid 

 as a tropical flower which grows in our country only in 

 cultivation and under highly artificial conditions. It 

 is, however, true that many of the most attractive 

 species of this beautiful group are endemic to most 

 parts of the United States. There are to-day, accord- 

 ing to conservative reports, from twenty-seven to 

 thirty genera and from one hundred and fifty to one 

 hundred and sixty species of native orchids found in 

 North America, north of Mexico. Most of these are 

 terrestrial or earth-loving. There are eleven epiphytes, 

 all of which are found only in the Southern States. 

 The range of the North American orchids extends 

 wherever sunshine and moisture prevail, nearly as far 

 north as the Arctic Circle. Four Cypripediums grow 

 between latitudes 54° and 64°, and from fifteen to 

 eighteen species of the Orchid Family are natives of 

 Alaska. 



The North Atlantic region, covering northeastern 

 United States and Canada, produces seventy-one 

 species of Orchidaceae; of these from forty-eight to 

 fifty-six are reported for New England, and from forty 

 to forty-two are found in the Hoosac Valley. Of the 

 seventy-one North Atlantic orchids only fifteen or 

 sixteen have not been found within Vermont. The 

 most widely-known genus — Cypripedium, or Mocassin- 

 Flower — is represented by thirteen species on the 

 North American continent. This includes the single 



