170 EPIPACTIS VIRIDIFLORA 



so distinguished a family. Even in our own climate 

 the title to distinction is upheld by the Yellow 

 Moccasin Flower or Lady's Slipper of the shady 

 woods and her more beautiful sisters of the Sphagnum 

 swamps, also by the Showy Orchis, the dainty and 

 delicate Calopogon, the Snake's Mouth, the Northern 

 Calypso, and the white, stately, and fragrant Ladies' 

 Tresses. And when the charm of rarity is added to 

 the honour of distinguished connections the Epipactis 

 becomes a treasured friend. 



It was a great source of satisfaction to find a solitary 

 plant growing in High Park beside the main drive 

 of the ravine. It stood unostentatiously, scarcely 

 more than a foot high, among some half-grown Elm- 

 leaved Goldenrod and Boneset. A dozen flowers 

 tipped their rounded seed-pods along the stem above 

 the leaves, but they seemed so inconspicuous and 

 colourless as to be worth scarcely a passing glance. 

 The mounted policeman was there, too, coming 

 leisurely along the road, and the penetrating look of 

 suspicion in his eye suggested an instinctive discern- 

 ment of the proximity of hidden treasure. It seemed 

 an age before he rounded the curve of the road, and 

 even then he came back and looked over the Witch- 

 hazel bushes to assure himself that nothing was in 

 danger. This flower has the three regular sepals 

 peculiar to the Orchid, and also the three petals, two 

 regular and one twisted and distorted. The twisted 



