ACCORDING TO SEASON 



Perhaps the wax-like, delicately spotted flowers 



of the rhododendron are even handsomer than 



Rhododen- those of the laurel, but in our northern latitude 



they are far less abundant and much less luxuriant 



in their manner of growth. 



Often in company with the mountain-laurel and 

 the rhododendron, but commonly in less exclusive 

 Sheep-iau- haunts, we find the sheep-laurel or lambkill, a 

 somewhat straggling little shrub with pale, nar- 

 rowly oblong leaves and clusters of pink or red- 

 dish blossoms. They are fresh, vigorous-looking 

 flowers, specially effective when massed against 

 the gray rocks of the seashore, among clumps of 

 bay-berry and wild-rose bushes. 



An interesting flower, due in early June, is the 

 Arethusa, one of the orchid family. Its usual 

 home is a cranberry-swamp, and the ones I have 

 had the good-fortune to find were growing near 

 groups of young larches, for whose companionship 

 I believe they are known to have a special liking. 

 The blossom has been described as " crystalline 

 Arethusa purple." It crowns a slender stalk which bears 

 below a single grass-like leaf. The narrow sepals 

 and petals arch above the petal-like columns. The 

 dilated lip is yellow-bearded. The flower has a 

 startled, alert look, as though it were pricking its 

 delicate ears in alarm at some rude intrusion. 

 That I have not detected the fragrance which is 



