HOW TO KNOW THE WILD FLOWERS 



Consequently, when the dull clusters of the ragged fringed 

 orchis, or the muddy racemes of the coral-root, or even the 

 slender, graceful spires of the ladies' tresses are brought from 

 the woods or roadside and exhibited as one of so celebrated a 

 tribe, they are usually viewed with scornful incredulity, or, if 

 the authority of the exhibitor be sufficient to conquer disbelief, 

 with unqualified disappointment. The marvellous mechanism 

 which is exhibited by the humblest member of the Orchis family, 

 and which suffices to secure the patient scrutiny and wonder- 

 ing admiration of the scientist, conveys to the uninitiated as lit- 

 tle of interest or beauty as would a page of Homer in the orig- 

 inal to one without scholarly attainments. 



The uprooting of a popular theory must be the work of years, 

 especially when it is impossible to offer as a substitute one 

 which is equally capable of being tersely defined and readily ap- 

 prehended ; for many seem to hold it a righteous principle to 

 cherish even a delusion till it be replaced by a belief which af- 

 fords an equal amount of satisfaction. It is simpler to describe 

 an orchid as a tropical air-plant which apes the appearance of 

 an insect and never roots in the ground than it is to master by 

 patient study and observation the various characteristics which 

 so combine in such a plant as to make it finally recognizable and 

 describable. Unfortunately, too, the enumeration of these un- 

 sensational details does not appeal to the popular mind, and so 

 fails to win by its accuracy the place already occupied by the in- 

 correct but pleasing conception of an orchid. 



For the benefit of those who wish to be able to correctly place 

 these curious and interesting flowers, as brief a description as 

 seems compatible with their recognition is appended. 



Leaves. Alternate, parallel-nerved. 



Flowers. Irregular in form, solitary or clustered, each one 

 subtended by a bract. 



Perianth. Of six divisions in two sets. The three outer 

 divisions are sepals, but they are usually petal-like in appearance. 

 The three inner are petals. By a twist of the ovary what would 

 otherwise be the upper petal is made the lower. This division is 

 termed the lip ; it is frequently brightly colored or grotesquely 



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