^hite and Greenish 



front, I in. long or over. Stem: Stout, leafy, i to 2 ft. high. 



Leaves ; 3 to 8 in. long, downy, elliptic, pointed, many ribbed. 

 Preferred Ifaii/af— Peat-hogs ; rich, low, wet woods. 

 Flowering Season — June — September. 

 Distribution — Nova Scotia to Georgia, westward to the Mississippi. 



Chiefly North. 



Quite different from the showy orchis, is this far more chaste 

 showy lady's slipper which Dr. Gray has called "the most 

 beautiful of the genus." Because the plants live in inaccessible 

 swampy places, where only the most zealous flower lover pene- 

 trates they have a reputation for rarity at which one who knows 

 a dozen places to find colonies of the stately exquisites during a 

 morning s walk, must smile with superiority. Wine appears to 

 overflow the large white cup and trickle down its sides. Some- 

 times unstained, pure white chalices are found, C. aVmm is the 

 name by which the plant is known in England. See note, p. 271. 



Large Round-leaved or Greater Green Orchis 



{Habenaria orbiculata) Orchid family 



Flowers — Greenish white, in a loosely set spike; the upper sepal 

 short, rounded; side ones spreading; petals smaller, arching; 

 the lip long, narrow, drooping, white, prolonged into a spur 

 often \% in. long, curved and enlarged at base; anther sacs 

 prominent, converging. Scape .- i to 2 ft. high. Leaves : 2, 

 spreading flat on ground, glossy above, silvery underneath, 

 parallel-veined, slightly longer than wide, very large, from 4 

 to 7 in. across. 



Pre/erred Habitat — Rich, moist woods in mountainous regions, 

 especially near evergreens. 



Flowering Season — J uly— August. 



Distribution — From British Columbia to the Atlantic ; eastern half 

 of the United States southward to the Carolinas. 



Wonderfully interesting structure and the comparative rarity 

 of this orchid, rather than superficial beauty, are responsible for the 

 thrill of pleasure one experiences at the sight of the spike of unpre- 

 tentious flowers. Two great leaves, sometimes as large as dinner 

 plates, attract the eye to where they glisten on the ground. The 

 spur of the blossom, the nectary, "implies a welcome to a tongue 

 two inches long, and will reward none other," says William Ham- 

 ilton Gibson. " This clearly shuts out the bees, butterflies, and 

 smaller moths. What insect, then, is here implied > The sphinx 

 moth, one of the lesser of the group. A larger individual might 

 sip the nectar, it is true, but its longer tongue would reach the 

 base of the tube without effecting the slightest contact with the 



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