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OUR NATIVE ORCHIDS 



Stem one to two feet high, 

 lower leaves very long, upper 

 ones mere bracts; lip with 

 smooth, incurved knobs at 

 base. 



Flowers alternate, but on a twisted 

 stalk. 



Stem leafy, leaves like blades of 

 grass. 



Stem with bracts, basal leaves 

 withering before the flowers 

 come. 



Plant small, five to nine inches 

 high, spike one inch long. 



Plant slender, basal leaves 

 ovate, loose spike one to 

 three inches long, very much 

 twisted. 



4. Fragrant Lady's-Tresses. 



5. Grass-leaved Lady's-Tresses. 



6. Little Lady's-Slipper. 



7. Slender Lady's-Tresses. 



I. THE HOODED LADY S-TRESSES 



Gyrostachys Romanzoffiana (Cham.) MacM. (Plate XXXVII.) 



From a cluster of tuberous roots a smooth stem, leafy 

 in its lower part, and bracted above, bears a spike of flowers 

 two to four inches long. From six to fifteen inches is the 

 height of this species. The leaves, which are broader at 

 their upper end than at their long, tapering base, sometimes 

 grow to be eight inches long, though five is the average 

 length. 



The whitish or greenish flowers grow in three rows 

 around the stem; they are very small, about a quarter of an 

 inch long. As the stem is not twisted, they circle it regu- 



