94 



BIRDS AND FLOWERS. 



treacherous hummocks and through quaking bogs be- 

 fore the snowy prize was captured and borne away in 

 triumph. 



The Habenaria genus is the largest in our group of 

 Concord orchids, numbering ten out of the twentyfive 

 species. While the three previously mentioned are 

 probably the most beautiful of the genus, for the ex- 

 quisite ciliaris or yellow-fringed has not yet been lo- 

 cated here, there is another one, the orbiculata, deserv- 

 ing of special mention. That and the Eookeri are oc- 

 casionally found in our woods. The orbiculata has 

 large, round leaves, often the size of a tea-plate, spread 

 flat on the ground, and a spike of from fifteen to 

 twenty flowers of waxy, greenish white. In 1898 the 

 writer saw it in perfection at the Adirondack Re- 

 serve, a great tract of land which includes the Upper 

 and Lower Au Sable Lakes. Its tall spikes, often 

 more than two feet high, with their curiously wrought 

 flowers, which look as if carved out of cucumber, were 

 one of the most striking features of that beautiful 

 natural park. 



The writer cannot close this chapter without an- 

 other plea for the preservation of the rare wild flowers. 

 Not only have they been sacrificed to ploughing and 

 building in the march of progress, but in many cases 



