Wild Flowers East of the Rockies 91 



POGONIA; SNAKE-MOUTH (Pogonia ophioglos- 

 soides) is another of our attractive orchids that leads 

 the enthusiast a merry chase, often through miles of 

 tangled swamp, before he finally discovers it in some 

 almost impenetrable bog. It has been my experience 

 that, in the southern parts of their ranges, all the 

 rare orchids are more easily get-at-able than in north- 

 ern United States, perhaps because in the North they 

 are hunted so persistently and plucked so freely when 

 found, that they can survive only in the most out of 

 the way places. 



Snake-mouth is delicate, pure pink in color and 

 slightly fragrant. Its pollen is not in stemmed 

 masses but is showered on the back of a visiting in- 

 sect as he backs out of the flower. The stem is from 

 8 to 13 inches high, bearing at its top a single flower; 

 sepals and petals are similar in shape; the lip is spat- 

 ulate, prominently crested with yellow and white, and 

 toothed and lacerated. About midway of the flower 

 stem is a single oval leaf and just below the flower 

 is a smaller bract-like one. Pogonia grows in swamps 

 from Newfoundland to Minn, and southwards to the 

 Gulf of Mexico, flowering during June and July. 



NODDING POGONIA (P. trianthophora) has a 

 leafy stem from 2 to 8 inches high. From two to 

 eight small oval leaves alternately clasp the stem; 

 the flowers, which number from one to six, appear 

 singly from the axils of the upper leaves, nodding on 

 slender peduncles; they are small, magenta-pink and 

 with ovate, three-lobed lips. It is locally distributed 

 from Me. to Wise, and southwards. 



Pogonia divaricata is a southern species found in 

 pine barrens from N. J. to Ga. The plant stem, clasp- 

 ed by a single oblong leaf at its middle, is 8 to 20 in. 

 high and bears a single large flower with ascending 

 brown sepals, pink petals and a 3-lobed lip. 



