74 OUR NATIVE ORCHIDS 



It springs from a fibrous root, and in height it is much 

 the same, but may grow to two feet. Instead of two or three 

 leaves, it has but one — narrow, long and blunt pointed — 

 that clasps the stalk, and that is from two to four inches in 

 length. 



The flower nods, but is not so much at right angles to the 

 stem as the Snake-mouth, for the sepals spread widely and 

 stand up more stiffly, and are the characteristic sign of the 

 species that gives it the name "spreading." 



They are very narrow, darker in colour and longer than 

 the flesh-coloured petals. The lip is the same length as the 

 other two petals, but instead of being narrow and pointed at 

 the tips as they are, it is broader, three-lobed, with a wavy 

 margin and a longer lobe in the centre, and is greenish with 

 fine purple veins. It has a crest in the middle, but no beard. 



The anther sacs that lie on each side of the shield and 

 just in front of the stigma have a hinged cup at the end that 

 lifts like a lid with toothed edges that helps to hold the pol- 

 len in. 



This Pogonia is a Southern species that has never ven- 

 tured farther north than the swamps in southern New 

 Jersey. It ascends to 4,000 feet in North Carolina and 

 grows in Florida. It blossoms in July. 



4. WHORLED POGONIA 



Pogonia verticillata (WiUd.) Nutt. (Plate XXXII.) 



There are two Whorled Pogonias which may be instantly 

 distinguished from the other Pogonias by the circle of five 



