ORCHID FAMILY 



THE PREFERRED HABITAT : dry, sandy soil of the Commons, 

 often in pure sand. 



THE PLANT: from a spindle-shaped, solitary root, eight 

 inches to eighteen inches high; the hairless stem having 

 scale-like bracts. 



THE LEAVES: basal; lanceolate; smooth on both surfaces; 

 acute at the apex; entire; parallel- veined. 



THE FLOWERS : small, in a small, slender spike ; sepals and 

 petals (all white) more or less united; the margins waved. 



THE FRUIT: a capsule. 



The Spiranthes Beckii, cernua, and gracilis are three 

 white orchids that, because of their general similarity in 

 appearance, group themselves together in one's mind. 

 All have twisted spirals of bell-shaped, white flowers, that, 

 some claim, look like miniature Lily-of-the- Valley, but it 

 requires a keen imagination to see a striking resemblance! 

 However, the Beckii is distinguished from the others by 

 its lips being pure white and its root if one does acci- 

 dentally pull up the plant from the sandy soil being 

 spindle-shaped and ''solitary." 



ORCHIDACE^; ORCHID FAMILY 



Spiranthes cernua, (L.) Richard. 



Yellowish- white Nodding Ladies' Tresses, 



Drooping Ladies' Tresses, 



August-September Wild Tube Rose, 



Screw Augur. 



Spiranthes: for derivation see Beckii. 

 Cernua: Latin for nodding. 



THE PREFERRED HABITAT: swampy ground. 



THE PLANT: six inches to two feet high, unbranched; the 

 flower-stem without hairs or with short, soft ones above, 

 usually with two to six bracts. 



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