Ill 



HABENARIA 

 (Plate XII.) 



The genus Habenaria, or Rein-Orchis, as the Greek 

 name signifies, is a group whose external characteristics are 

 leafy stems and a wand of many flowers. There are sorfie 

 four hundred species in different parts of the world, and 

 beside the eighteen included in our northeastern limit there 

 are perhaps twenty others in the southern and western parts 

 of North America. 



The genus Habenaria contains some of the larger plants 

 of our American orchids. They have substantial fibrous or 

 tuberous roots and round or pointed leaves, which in some 

 species are very large. The sepals are nearly equal, some- 

 times forming a tube at the base and sometimes separate, 

 but generally spreading at the sides. 



The chief flower characteristic is the long spur (Plate XII.) 

 which hangs from under the drooping, spreading lip. This 

 lip is often cut or lobed or fringed, and brightly coloured 

 and marked. By examining it one can get a clue to the 

 species, for it seems to be the most variant feature. 



The position of the pollen masses is extremely interesting. 



The coarse pollen granules are packed together and shaped 



24 



