ORCHID FAMILY 



ORCHIDACE^i 



The Orchids are perhaps the most interesting 

 of all the flowering plants. They are perennials 

 which are dependent to an extraordinary degree 

 upon insects for the carrying of the pollen from 

 flower to flower. The structure of the blossom 

 is somewhat complicated and it is followed by 

 the curious seed pod in which there is an enor- 

 mous number of very minute seeds. In nearly all 

 the Orchids there is a labellum or lip which 

 forms, as a rule, the most conspicuous feature of 

 the flower. It is especially striking in the case of 

 our common Ladies'-slippers. 



PINK LADY'S-SLIPPER. Of all the wild flow- 

 ers of June none is more interesting than the 

 Pink Lady's-slipper which over a wide territory 

 in the eastern states is frequently abundant. No 

 matter how often you see it it never becomes 

 commonplace, having to an extraordinary degree 

 the peculiar charm of the aristocratic Orchid 

 family to which it belongs. It seems rather a 

 fitting habitation for elves and fairies than an 

 ordinary denizen of the work-a-day world. 



The few other Lady's-slippers to be found in 

 the United States are inhabitants of deep swamps 



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