32 



TREES AND FLOWERS OF 



(blue) 



(white) 



SPRING ORCHID 



WILD ORCHID 



Spring Orchid (Calypso). There are several vari- 

 eties of wild orchid in the Park, of which this is per- 

 haps the most delicate and beautiful. It is seen only 

 by those who visit the Park early in the season, for 

 its period of bloom is over by July 10 at latest. There 

 is a single broad oval leaf near the ground, above 

 which rises the three or four-inch flower stem, bearing 

 one nodding, rose-colored flower. This is somewhat 

 over an inch in length, and of an irregular shape. 

 There is a central boat- or slipper-shaped section, above 

 which project four narrow, twisted petals. This plant 

 is found only in very moist woods. 



Wild Orchid (Limnorchis) . This plant may be 

 taken as more typical of the wild orchids of this 

 region. There is a central thick stem bearing several 

 stiff, sword-shaped leaves and having a group of sim- 

 ilar leaves at the base. The upper part of it bears a 

 spike of small flowers more or less similar in shape to 

 the larger flower of the spring orchid. In the wild 

 orchid these flowers are white; in the closely related 

 Coral-Root (Corallorrhiza) there are no leaves at all, 

 the stem and outer petals are coral-red and the inner 

 part of the flower is white mottled with red. 



