Hail-Storms at HtcHo-wo^ 79 



absolutely preserved. The stump from which this tree 

 had fallen was worn and crumbled away to the very 

 earth, and capped with moss. It will require years for 

 this log to settle into the peat deeply enough to allow 

 these seedling orchids to ply and mass their roots in 

 generous soft soil. Unless their roots deeply penetrate 

 rich soil, the plants become pale in color and dwarfed, 

 like the plants growing in loose sphagnum. 



I missed some old colonies; these were of a new gen- 

 eration, and if they are not starved out, will blossom 

 here in a row another year. 



Another cluster of plants growing near by produces 

 the deepest magenta blossoms that I ever beheld, and 

 only in this one group have I seen this particular hue. 

 A deep rose - purple extends over almost the whole 

 labellum, and from a distance I thought I had discov- 

 ered the long-sought Purple-Fringed Orchis, — such a 

 flame of color rose before me. It almost seemed a 

 variety of the true Cypripedium regincB. 



This swamp produced just one hundred blossoms 

 this season. Of this number I gathered about twenty- 

 five among the scattered plants, leaving the older 

 groups to ripen their seeds, if possible. 



I found the first fully unfolded Showy Lady's Slip- 

 pers of the season, on June 8th, in the Swamp of Ora- 

 cles in District Fourteen; while those of Rattlesnake 

 Swamp unfolded fully this season on June 20th, and 

 faded about July ist, the season being shortened by 

 the heavy hailstorms. 



I have noticed that orchids growing in open, sunny 



