THE NATIVE ORCHIDS OF NEW ENGE4Nn. 



155 



any part of New England. It is dotted, here and there, 

 with the delicate, rosy arethusa (. I rii/iuui luiHiosa), a 

 plant fresh from fairy-land, about six inches high, with 

 a single flower, one to two inches long at the summit of 

 the scape. It grows from a solid bulb, and care must 

 be taken in picking a bunch for the vase, not to destroy 

 the whole plant, for the bulb is very easily withdrawn 

 from the soft, spongy bog. We will tarry in this locality 

 for two or three weeks and watch the change. The 

 arethusa has gone, and, in its place, we are sure to find 

 another orchid, superficially resembling the former, 

 though rather more modest in appearance, yet very at- 

 tractive, the pogonia [Pogo)iia ophioglossoides) . This 

 plant has one rosy flower at the end of the stem which 

 bears a single leaf in the 

 middle, and a small 



one at the base of the ^ ,. ■ 



blossom. Its roots are 

 long and fibrous. Tarry 

 but a little longer into 

 July and you will be re- 

 warded by seeing the 

 pogonia replaced b y 

 the beautiful calopo- 

 gon [Calopogon pnhlicl- 

 his). This orchid 

 springs from a solid 

 bulb, and bears several 

 quite large pink flow- \ 

 ers, with a linear leaf J 

 at the base of the stem. 

 Notice that, in this 

 plant, the flower seems 

 to be inverted on the 

 stem. It is because the 

 ovary does not take the * 

 peculiar twist men- 

 tioned above, and the 

 lip occupies its true 

 position on the top of 

 the flower. I have often 

 noticed this order of 

 succession in the ap- 

 pearance of these 

 plants, and, where you 



find one species, you may be quite sure to find the 

 others. 



Pogonia verlutllald^ an uncommon species in New 

 England, strangely resembles, in its sterile form, our 

 common wake robin ( Trillimn ie?-niiinii), whose flower, 

 nodding under the leaves, is quite invisible. This is 

 due to the whorl of obovate leaves at the summit of the 

 stem. Just above the leaves is a single purplish flower, 

 the three sepals very narrow, and from two to three 

 inches long, presenting a very strange appearance. It 

 is an early bloomer, remaining in flower but a short 

 time. I have collected it among the Blue Hills, in Mil- 

 ton, {Massachusetts, as early as the 4th of June. The 

 little Pogonia pendiila I have never seen, though it occurs 



Fig. 5. Calypso borealis. (See page 156 



in various parts of New England in damp woods. It 

 bears several rose-colored flowers about half an inch in 

 length. My herbarium specimens show the plants to 

 be about eight inches in height. The rare /"f^cw/r? a [finis, 

 in south-western New England, is quite a stranger to 

 me. It bears a general resemblance to P. veitiiillata , 

 but with shorter sepals. At the Gray Herbarium there 

 is a single specimen from New Haven, Connecticut, and 

 one from New Jersey. 



The showy orchis [Ordiis spcctalnle), is not uncommon 

 in many parts of New England. It is abundant in the 

 region about Lebanon, N. H., and has a stem some 

 si.x inches high, bearing a few pink and white flowers of 

 dainty hue. Two large leaves are produced at the base 

 _ of the stem. I have seen 



, - a very handsome plant 



o f this species from 

 Oak Island, a wooded 

 oasis in an extensive 

 salt-marsh, a few miles 

 north of Boston. The 

 habitat of this orchid is 

 not very near this spot, 

 and it is singular that 

 it should be lingering 

 there. It is in com- 

 pany with other plants, 

 equally straying from 

 their wonted home, as 

 the giant hyssop, 

 {Lophantlius soropJialar- 

 iivfoiiiis), and the fig- 

 wort or scrophalaria. 

 Orilns i-otitiidifolia , till 

 lately classed with the 

 habenarias, is not a 

 common plant. It has 

 a single roundish leaf 

 at the base, and a 

 spike of rather small 

 rose-purple and white 

 flowers. It occurs in 

 north New England in 

 woods and bogs. 



The rattlesnake- 

 plantain, or goodyera, is a very attractive plant, on ac- 

 count of its tuft of green base leaves, curiously marked 

 with white. The more northern of our two common 

 species is G. ripens, which is only about six inches 

 high, with a small one-sided spike of whitish flowers. 

 I have seen it in abundance among the White Hills and 

 elsewhere, and always give it a warm greeting. Its 

 place is supplied in south New England by G . piihesoc'ns , 

 larger than the preceding, but resembling it in general 

 appearance. The flowers grow all around the stem, 

 and the strongly marked leaves make it an attractive 

 plant for a fernery. I saw beautiful specimens of this 

 orchid recently in Montague, Massachusetts, in the rich, 

 wet woods. G . Meiiziesii , much like G . repens, has been 



