Wild Flowers East of the Rockies 97 



HEART-LEAVED TWAYBLADE (Listera cordata) 



belongs to a genus containing five species. They may 

 readily be recognized by the two heart-shaped or 

 ovate leaves clasping the flower stem, oppositely, 

 about half way up. The flowers are either madder- 

 purple as in the present species, or greenish. 



Like most of the Orchids, they are largely or whol- 

 ly dependent upon insect aid for fertilization. The 

 weight, or shock, of an alighting insect on the broad 

 lip causes a small gland within the flower to rupture 

 and cover the pollen, just below with a sticky fluid 

 that causes it to adhere to the head or body of the in- 

 sect and thus be transferred to the next flower. 



The stem of this species is from 3 to 10 in. high. 

 At the top is a few flowered raceme; the sepals and 

 petals are similar and spreading; the lip is drooping, 

 longer, two-cleft and madder-purple in color. This 

 species flowers during June and July in swampy 

 woods from N. J. to Colo, and northwards to the 

 Arctic coast. 



TWAYBLADE (Liparis lilifolia), although having 

 the same common name, is of a different genus. It 

 is a more attractive plant, having two broad basal 

 leaves and larger flowers with a broad ovate lip. It 

 grows in woodland from Me. to Minn, and southwards. 



CORAL ROOT (Corallorrhiza maculata) is so nam- 

 ed because of its angular, branching, brownish, coral- 

 like root. The scape is from 10 to 18 in. high; its 

 only leaf appears as a sheath near. the base. The 

 flowers are madder-purple, in a loose raceme; the 

 sepals and petals are small, similar and ascending; 

 the lip and column are white, spotted with purple, the 

 former being two-lobed. There are five species of 

 Coral Root, all destitute of green foliage, and differ- 

 ing only slightly in the flowers. They are found in 

 spruce woods from Me. to British Columbia and 

 southwards. 



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