64 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



Marshes, wet meadows and swamps, mainly near the coast from Nova 

 Scotia to Pennsylvania and Georgia. Flowering in May and June. 



Pointed Blue-eyed Grass 



Sisyriiichiuiii aui!^iistij'oliiim Miller 



Perennial and tufted, stems stiff and erect, pale green and glaucous, 

 4 to 1 8 inches high. Leaves pointed, about half as long as the stems, 

 about one-sixth of an inch or less wide. Stem simple or rarely branched, 

 winged, the edges minutely serrulate. Flowers deep violet-blue, one-half 

 of an inch broad, umbellate from a pair of erect, green or slightly purplish 

 bracts (spathe), the outer bract rather less than twice the length of the 

 inner one, the six spreading segments of the perianth oblong and aristulate 

 at the tip. Capsules subglobose, often purplish tinged, about one-fourth 

 of an inch in diameter or less. 



In fields and on hillsides, Newfoundland to Saskatchewan, British 

 Columbia, Virginia, Nebraska, Colorado and Utah. Flowering from 

 May to July. 



There are four other species of blue-eyed grass in New York State: 

 S. m u c r o n a t u m Alichaux, S. a r e n i c o 1 a Bicknell, S. g r a m i- 

 n o i d e s Bicknell and S. atlanticum Bicknell. 



Orchid Family 



Orchidaceae 

 The members of the Orchid family in New York State, of which several 

 are described and illustrated here, constitute a very important number 

 of our wild flowers and call for a description of the family. They are all 

 perennial herbs with corms, bulbs or tuberous roots and entire, sheathing 

 leaves, in some species reduced to scales. Flowers perfect, irregular, 

 solitary, spiked or racemed. Perianth consisting of six segments, the 

 three outer (sepals) similar or nearly so, two of the inner ones (petals) 

 lateral, alike; the third inner one (lip) unlike the other two, often markedly 



