182 PLANTS GROWING IN RICH OR ROCKY SOIL. 



inches long, curved and gradually becoming thicker. Leaves : two only ; very 

 large, sometimes a foot long, at the bottom of the scape and lying flat on the 

 ground ; almost orbicular ; parallel-veined. Scape : one to two feet high. 



This peculiar and striking orchis protests strongly against 

 the July sun and rears itself in the evergreen woods, or on the 

 shaded hillsides. Its colour is so cool and tranquil that we 

 wonder it has not chosen to dwell by the side of a brook, where 

 it could occasionally dip its roots in the water. Darning- 

 needles have a warm friendship for the plant and guard it well, 

 as one finds sometimes to his sorrow when seeking to gaze at it 

 more closely. 



STRIPED CORAL-ROOT. (Plate XCV.) 



Corallorhiza striata. 



FAMILY COLOUR ODOUR RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 



Orchis. Dark purple. Scentless. Northward across June. 



the continent. 



Flowers: growing closely in a terminal raceme on a stout scape. Sepals 

 and petals almost alike, the lip being broader than either of them. Leaves: 

 none. Stem : one to two feet high with a number of scale-like appendages at 

 the base. Rootstock: much branched and toothed, similar to that of coral. 



Unless we were well acquainted with the family traditions of 

 the orchids it would hardly be suspected that the coral-root is 

 a member of the family. But intimacy with it reveals much, as 

 is usually the case with most plants. It is far from being well 

 known and chooses for its home the cool, deep woods of the 

 north. 



C. Multiflbra, coral-root, is a common and unattractive mem- 

 ber of this genus which is found in rather open woods. The 

 flowers are small, purplish or yellow, and grow in a raceme. As 

 the above species, it is without green foliage. 



Simply that a plant is called an orchis will sometimes cast 

 abroad the impression that its bloom must be beautiful. But 

 the orchis family is no different from other families. It has its 

 plain members as well as those that are beautiful. Each one is 

 possessed of its own individuality and weaves out its own 

 destiny. 



