THE ARETHUSA. 



liant summer annual has a habitat limited to the region of our 

 eastern border along the coast of New England and the middle 

 States to Virginia, and the northern parts of Wisconsin and beyond. 

 It is not a common plant anywhere, though I have found it by no 

 means rare in some of the marshy districts about Taunton. It 

 blossoms in May and June, and, as our artist makes clear to all, 

 it is a very beautiful flower. The singular form and position of 

 the petals, its brilliant color of pink and red, with the yellow fringe 

 that ornaments its pendent " labellum," all contribute to the in- 

 terest and charm of the flower. 



It is one of the few representatives which we have in our native 

 flora of the very interesting Orchid family. They are all very 

 highly organized and specialized plants. In most cases they have 

 some ingenious mechanism for soliciting and securing the help of 

 insects in cross-pollenization. In describing the Moccasin Flower 

 and the Calopogon in Beautiful Wild Flowers, I had occasion to 

 refer to this interesting matter at some length. The Arethusa 

 secures this outside help in the distribution of its pollen in much 

 the same way as the Calopogon, the principal difference being that 

 the insect carries away the pollen masses upon his head in the case 

 of the Arethusa, while in the Calopogon they adhere to the under- 

 side of the thorax or abdomen. 



If the reader will carefully notice the flowers which Mr. 

 Sprague has reproduced with such faithfulness, he will see that the 

 petal which overarches the yellow-headed " labellum " has a slight 

 knob or protuberance on its under side near the end. This is the 

 anther. It consists of a casque-shaped cup with four little masses 

 of powdery pollen packed loosely away in it. The cup lies down 

 upon its side in a little hollow or groove in the petal with its 



