May and Early June 



to pluck from the moist, dark earth, a 

 handful of its bright yellow roots. 



Just here the ground begins to yield 

 beneath us, and we find ourselves on the 

 edge of an open marsh, which is closely 

 skirted, on every side, by tall trees. In- 

 tense quiet reigns only broken by the 

 occasional croaking of a frog, or some 

 distant bird-note. The rushes grow tall 

 and green. Coronet-like clusters of the 

 beautiful royal fern, Osmunda regalis, lift 

 themselves to a height of several feet, 

 their delicate central fronds tipped with 

 clusters of greenish fruit. Here, too, are 

 great circles of the cinnamon-fern, an- 

 other Osmunda, its golden-brown fruit- 

 ing fronds set amid a mass of rich foliage. 



Our feet sink deep in the spongy sphag- 

 num, but we pay little heed to the warn- 

 ing, for tall spikes of pale lilac, deeply 

 fringed flowers meet our expectant eyes, 

 and we know that at last our long search 

 for the great purple - fringed orchis is 

 42 



