Queen of Moccasin-Flcwers 57 



ing petals. The Showy Orchis is supposed to be the 

 first orchid of the spring to blossom in New England. 



I discovered nothing in the Chalk Pond meadows, 

 however, save that it was one of the most charming 

 little corners in the town, showing deep erosions 

 about its terraced basin, proving that the ice-currents 

 of the past flowed through these gulfs with terrible 

 force. 



I have found the Large Yellow Moccasin-Flower 

 growing in close relationship with the dwarf fragrant 

 species {Cypripedium parviflorum)^ in the Swamp of 

 Oracles, in District Fourteen, about May 25th; while 

 they appear later in the upland woods, — from June 6th 

 until June 25th. They grow, as will be observed, 

 along high, rocky hillsides as well as in damp, sphag- 

 nous marshes. The upland species are often found in 

 open clearings on hillsides, among the dead brushwood 

 heaps, where grow the Maiden-Hair and Christmas 

 Ferns. Often they are in full sight, but sometimes they 

 are hidden under small hazel-nut bushes, amid sapling 

 white birches. 



There seem to be three different forms of the Yellow 

 Cypripediums, although there are but two accepted dis- 

 tinct North American species north of Mexico; these 

 appear also to intergrade frequently. Close associa- 

 tion of habitat has probably something to do with this 

 cross- fertilization of the two species. 



Finding the two marsh plants, Cypripedium hirsii- 

 tum and Cypripedium parvijloriiiu, growing side by 

 side in the Swamp of Oracles, I observed a marked 



