NATIVE WILD FLOWERS 
From a round solid corm, about a quarter of an inch in 
diameter, rises a bright green sword-shaped leaf, which 
clasps at its base a tall scape bearing a loose four to eight- 
flowered raceme of elegant rose or lilac-colored flowers. 
The lower blossoms open first. The form of the flower is 
peculiar: the concave upper petal or lip is bearded with 
yellow and purple hairs arching over the column, which is 
winged and free; the bright reddish-purple sepals and 
petals are pointed and fragrant; the scape rises to the 
height of from eighteen inches to two feet. A bed of these 
elegant flowers when in bloom is a charming sight. 
Another of our Orchids is the lovely and rare Arethusa 
bulbosa (L.), the flower of which is no less remarkable for 
the beauty of its form and rich coloring than the Calopogon. 
The color of the ringent corolla is of a deep rich rose-purple, 
and it is very sweetly scented; the scape has occasionally 
one grassy leaf. Not less singular is the charming Calypso 
borealis (Salisb.), or Bird’s-foot Orchis, with its grace- 
ful, deliciously-scented pendulous fiowers and crested lip, 
bearded with yellow and pink, and its narrow, twisted and 
waved pale pink sepals and petals; the scape is garnished 
with one oval shield-shaped shining leaf of dark glossy 
green. It flowers in the month of May. 
Another elegant bog-plant is the 
SMALL ROUND-LEAVED OrcHIS—Platanthera rotundifolia 
(Rich.). 
‘* Your voiceless lips, O flowers, are living preachers ; 
Each cup a pulpit, and each leaf a book. 
** Floral apostles that in dewy splendor 
Weep without woe and blush without a crime.” 
—Horace Smith. 
This is one of the lovely native plants of the Orchis 
family, of which we boast many remarkable for beauty as 
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