RAGGED FRINGE-ORCHID 



Habenaria lacera (Michaux) Loddiges 



The fagged fringe-orchid comes into bloom a little later than its 

 more 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 2.I5 



