6o PROCEEDINGS MANCHESTER INSTITUTE 



condition of both forms when growing in drier localities 

 or in sand. Aside from the difference in the proportionate 

 length of the glumes the plants in the two forms appear to 

 be alike. , These notes are given simpl}^ for what they may be 

 worth in the reduction of this unsettled group. 



*4. A station of this beautiful little orchid was discovered by 

 the compiler on the shores of Lake Winnipesaukee, Aug. 12, 

 1 89-. At this time the plants were very abundant, often grow- 

 ing in dense clusters or colonies. In a single patch of leaf- 

 mold, about 14 by 8 inches in extent, no less than 120 plants 

 were found in full flower. The plants behaved badly in drying, 

 and specimens prepared for herbaria were very unsatisfactory. 

 The next visit to the station was on Aug. 27, 1897, when the 

 plants were very scarce and poorly developed. The last visit 

 was on Aug. 18, 1901. While not as abundant as when the 

 station was discovered, the plants were then sufiiciently numer- 

 ous and in good condition. A number of clumps and of single 

 plants with the leaf-mold attached were packed in tin boxes 

 with moss and successfully transported, reaching botanical 

 friends in Massachusetts in fine condition. The collector hav- 

 ing suspected, from both the habitat and the habit of the plants, 

 that they were to some extent saprophytic or symbiotic, sug- 

 gested to one of the recipients of his plants a critical examina- 

 tion of the root system. The examination tended to prove that 

 the plants are hemisaprophytes, deriving organic food from the 

 humus. It also showed a particularly clear c^se of "mykorhi- 

 za," certain fungi having penetrated the tissues of the root and 

 also sent hyphae from it in all directions, so that the root looked 

 as if clothed with root hairs. 



The paleness of the parts abov.e ground and the feeble devel- 

 opment of chlorophyll are very noticeable. As far as observed, 

 the plants all grow in leaf-mold and have no attachment to the 

 soil beneath. In fact, the layer of leaf-mold is usually super- 

 posed on rock and the plants are most abundant in the little 

 hollows between angular fragments of the rock where little or no 

 other soil can have accumulated. The trees in the locality are 



