RAGGED FRINGE-ORCHID 
Habenaria lacera (Michaux) Loddiges 
The tagged fringe-orchid comes into bloom a little later than its 
mote showy sister, the yellow fringe-orchid. Because it grows in 
swampy places among grasses and other moisture-loving plants, or 
in deep woods, and since its flowers differ little in coloring from the 
leaves, it is not easily discovered. The stems are one to two feet high. 
The plant’s insect visitors are abundantly rewarded by the nectar 
which it supplies to them in exchange for the part they play in 
cross pollination. Owing to its color, it is more easily seen after dark 
than its yellow and purple relatives, and thus attracts night-flying 
moths to its feast. 
Ragged fringe-orchid ranges from Georgia to North Carolina and 
Missouri, and northward to Newfoundland and Manitoba. 
The specimen sketched was found near Washington, District of 
Columbia. | 
PLATE 215 
