50 



Observations in the field and inspection of plants as they 

 were being put into the press, have disclosed some evidences of 

 insect depredation, but to no marked degree. One, indeed, 

 encounters numbers of non-fruiting specimens, but whether 

 these were retarded by drought or affected by insects, has not 

 been ascertained. At any rate, not far off from plants thus 

 affected good flowering and fruiting specimens may usually be 

 obtained without much trouble. In a few instances, cobwebby 

 deposits have been discovered on the fruit and the foliage, and 

 on one or two plants put in the press small spiders were detected. 

 On the whole, however, the adverse effects of insect visitation 

 seem to be negligible. 



With so many elements entering into the matter of the 

 plant's ability to persist, increase, and spread, it is difficult to 

 assign a predominant role to any single agency. A combination 

 of factors and circumstances obviously comes into play. All in 

 all, SerapiasHelleborine, as occurring in Buffalo and vicinity, is 

 still to present-day observers, in a more extended and perplexing 

 sense, what it was to those who almost half a century ago first 

 welcomed it as "that remarkable orchid." 



Botanical Section, B. S. N. S. 

 Buffalo, N. Y. 



