ACCORDING TO SEASON 



Rhododen- 

 dron 



Sheep-lau- 

 rel 



Arethusa 



Perhaps the wax-like, delicately spotted flowers 

 of the rhododendron are even handsomer than 

 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 

 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 

 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 



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