NODDING LADIES-TRESSES 



Ihidium cernuum (Linnaeus) House 



SLENDER LADIES-TRESSES 



Ihidium gracile (Bigelow) House 



These two fall-blooming members of the Orchid Family are 

 frequently found growing in the grass of old pastures. Nodding 

 ladies-tresses usually chooses a wet situation, but the slender one 

 is more likely to be found in drier places. Both are inconspicuous 

 in their chosen habitats, for their leaves and stalks are so grasslike 

 that they seem a part of the general herbage. The genus name has 

 arisen from the fancied resemblance of the anther to the head of 

 an ibis. 



Many botanists prefer to use the genus name Spiranthes, which 

 means spiral-flower, but Ihidium has priority. 



Slender ladies-tresses is notable for its green-centered lip, and for 

 the fact that its leaves, which are evergreen, wither away before 

 flowering time, the flower stalk bearing only inconspicuous bracts. 



These two orchids have a similar range, occurring from Florida 

 northward and westward, extending into southernmost Canada. 



The specimens sketched were found near Mount Kisco, New York. 



PLATE 4 



