GREEN GROUP 



petioled, broad, acute, plaited, tinged with purple underni 

 July and August. 



Bulbs connected by horizontal offsets. This singular 

 orchid, with its insect-like form, is a rare and pleasurable 

 find in the woods from Vermont to Michigan, and south- 

 ward to Florida and Louisiana. 



Stinging Nettle 



Urtica dioica. — Family, Nettle. Flowers, in spikes. Stamens 

 and sepals 4, in pairs; the two outer sepals smaller, all placed 

 around a rudimentary pistil. Leaves, opposite, ovate, heart- 

 shaped, downy underneath. Summer. 



The whole plant is furnished with stinging hairs. A small 

 gland, secreting a poisonous fluid, is at the base of each hair. 

 If one be touched, never so lightly, I can testify from ex- 

 perience that the hand will burn and sting for hours after- 

 ward. Height, 2 or 3 feet. Common around old outbuild- 

 ings and barns, and. in waste places generally. 



Two other species may be mentioned; neither of them 

 quite so vicious. 



Slender Nettle 



. V. gracilis is sparingly bristly, quite tall, 2 to 7 feet, with 



leaves lance-shaped, possessing heart-shaped or round has*.-, 

 * deeply serrate, on tall petioles. Flowers in axillary compound 

 panicles. 



Small Nettle 



U. urens is small and coarse, provided with few stings. L> 

 deeply and sharply toothed, ovate, petioled, 3 to 5 -nerved. 



To this Family belong our splendid elm trees; also, the fig 

 and banyan, as well as the hemp plant. These species of 

 nettle are found over the entire Atlantic coast. 



Wood Nettle 



Laportea canadensis, — Family, Nettle. Staminate and pistil- 

 late flowers separate. No corolla. Calyx of 4 sepals, one or two < >f 

 which are smaller than the others. One side of the stigma hairy. 

 Flowers clustered in cymose heads. Leaves, 5 or 6 inches long, 

 ovate, pointed, long-petioled, feather-veined, with one 2-clefl 

 stipule at base. July to September. 



A plant with stinging hairs, 2 or 3 feet high. Pound in 

 rich woods, northward and southward. 



