ROSEBUD ORCHID 



Pogonia divaricata (Linnaeus) Robert Brown 



Rosebud orchid is widespread and abundant in the far South, and 

 the acid-soil meadows of northern Florida are sometimes colored pink 

 by thousands of its blossoms. Farther north it becomes rarer, and is 

 seldom found even by the botanist, whose excursions lead him to 

 remote fields and bogs. The lovely shading and delicate penciling of 

 the petals lend a peculiar charm to this orchid. To people not familiar 

 with the book name, it is often known as the "rosebud flower," be- 

 cause of the resemblance of the lip to a slender rosebud. Some bota- 

 nists hold that it is not a true Pogonia, assigning to it the name Cleistes 

 divaricata. 



Rosebud orchid is found from Florida and Alabama northward to 

 Kentucky and southern New Jersey, growing both in lowlands near 

 the coast and on high mountains. 



The specimen sketched was obtained near Beaufort, South Carolina. 



PLATE 2.42. 



