Prom Blue to Purple 



which to manufacture the nectar that orchids rely upon so largely 

 to entice insects to work for them, is naturally a prime necessity; 

 yet Sprengel attempted to prove that many orchids are gaudy 

 shams and produce no nectar, but exist by an organized system 

 of deception. " Scheinsaftblumen" he called them. From the 

 number of butterflies seen hovering about this fringeless orchis 

 and its more attractive kin, it is small wonder their nectaries are 

 soon exhausted and they are accused of being gay deceivers. 

 Sprengel's much-quoted theory would credit moths, butterflies, 

 and even the highly intelligent bees with scant sense; but Dar- 

 win, who thoroughly tested it, forever exonerated these insects 

 from imputed stupidity and the flowers from gross dishonesty. 

 He found that many European orchids secrete their nectar between 

 the outer and inner walls of the tube, which a bumblebee can 

 easily pierce, but where Sprengel never thought to look for it. 

 The large lip of this orchis is not fringed, but has a fine picotee 

 edge. The showy violet-purple, long-spurred flowers are alter- 

 nately set on a stem that is doing its best if it reach a height of 

 two and a half feet. 



Water-shield, or Water Target 



(Brasenia purpurea) Water-lily family 

 {B. peltata of Gray) 



Flowers — Small, dull purplish, about >^ in. across, on stout foot- 

 stalks from axils of upper leaves; 3 narrow sepals and petals; 

 stamens 12 to i8; pistils 4 to 18, forming i to 3-seeded pods. 

 Stem ; From submerged rootstock ; slender, branching, several 

 feet long, covered with clear jelly, as are footstalks and lower 

 leaf surfaces. Leaves : On long petioles attached to centre of 

 under side of leaf, floating or rising, oval to roundish, 2 to 4 

 in. long, i}i to 2 in. wide. 



Preferred Habitat—SX^, rather deep Water of ponds and slow 

 streams. 



Flowering Season — All summer. 



Distribution— ^dxXs, of Asia, Africa, and Australia, Nova Scotia to 

 Cuba, and westward from California to Puget Sound. 



Of this pretty water plant Dr. Abbott says, in "Wasteland 

 Wanderings ": "I gathered a number of floating, delicate leaves, 

 and endeavored to secure the entire stem also; but this was too 

 difficult a task for an August afternoon. The under side of the 

 stem and leaf are purplish brown and were covered with trans- 

 lucent jelly, embedded in which were millions of what I took to 

 be insects' eggs. They certainly had that appearance. I was 



14 



