THE ORCHIDS OF NEW ENGLAND. 57 
Some Orchids belonging to the Arethusez, natives of Aus- 
tralia and New Zealand, as described by Darwin, have such 
sensitive lips that when touched they spring up, shutting the 
insect within the flower and either forcing it against the pollen- 
masses, or, as in Cypripedium, compelling it to carry off the 
pollen as it escapes by some narrow passage. The lips after a 
time, varying in one species “from half an hour to one hour 
and a half,” re-open and are ready for another visit. 
“Few flowers,” says a competent writer, “ have suffered ruder 
divisions at the hands of botanists than Orchids.” The Habe- 
narias have been peculiarly unfortunate in this respect, but a 
change that cannot be regretted was made in 1877, when ZH. 
rotundtfolta, the O. rotundifolia of Pursh, and the P. rotundifolia 
of Lindley, was reassigned by Gray as a True Orchis to its 
proper place by the side of O. spectabzlis, which had been hav- 
ing a lonely time as the sole representative in this part of the 
world of a prolific genus. The Round-leafed Orchis lives 
on mossy knolls, or tucked away under ferns in damp cedar 
woods, and is a small but exceedingly pretty plant. It has but 
one leaf; “its lateral sepals spread like those of most European 
9? 
species; its waxy flowers are tinged and the lip is dotted with 
purple. Hooker’s description, “pale, dirty white,” simply ma- 
ligns them. If far enough north, for like Calypso this dainty 
Orchis requires cold, you will probably gather it before the 
Arethusas fade, and in their vicinity. 
Any swamp is a treasure-house at this time of year to one 
who wades recklessly into it. The treacherous sphagnum, 
shading through all the tints of green into rich reds and 
umbers, lures you on by offering a bird’s nest here and a bizarre 
mushroom there, till wet feet seem a very small price to pay 
for so great an amount of pleasure. The Linnea swings her 
fragrant bells; the Bunch-berry masses her involucres into 
a semblance of the snow-drifts that lay there not so very long 
ago; the Pitcher-plant offers her brimming beakers; slender 
