io6 Bog-Trotting for Orchids 



Species of Habenaria are called False Orchises, while 

 species of Orchis are known as True Orchises. These 

 species are members of sister genera, but all belong to 

 the Orchid Family. There are but three True Orchises 

 found on the continent north of Mexico, while not less 

 than forty-four species of Habenaria are reported for 

 the same area. 



The genus of True Orchises comprises eighty species, 

 distributed throughout the temperate zone of the 

 world; while of Habenaria there are about five hun- 

 dred species. Orchis spedabilis and Orchis rotundifolia 

 are found in Vermont. The latter is the rarer, and 

 limited in its range from northern New England to 

 Greenland. The Orchis spectabilis ranges from Ontario 

 southward to Georgia. The third species. Orchis 

 aristata, is endemic to the wooded regions of Alaska. 



Our common Showy Orchis resembles the Early 

 Spring Orchis {Orchis mascula) of England, which 

 Darwin never tired of praising. The high organism 

 distinguishes species of this genus as True Orchises. 

 The origin of this distinction lies in the complex struc- 

 ture of the organs of fertilization. The stigmatic lobes, 

 or female organs, and the anther containing the pol- 

 linia or male substance in fertilizing, are enclosed in 

 this genus in a pouch or hooded fold above and within 

 the anterior portion of the orifice of the spur. In False 

 Orchises, the stigma and anther are naked, and their 

 glands are exposed. They are also known as Naked 

 Gland Orchises. The more complex the structure, the 

 more highly organized becomes the species. Orchis 



