Nat. Ord. Orchidaceje. 
Orchis Spectabilis. 
“ Full many a gem of purest ray serene, 
The dark unfathomed caves of ocean bear; 
Full many a flower is born to. blush unseen, 
And waste its sweetness on the desert air.” 
Gray. 
EEP hidden in the damp recesses of the leafy woods, 
many a rare and precious flower of the Orchis family 
blooms, flourishes, and decays, unseen by human eye, un¬ 
sought by human hand, until some curious, flower-loving 
botanist plunges amid the rank, tangled vegetation, and brings 
beauties to the light. 
One of these beautiful Orchids, the Orchis spectabile or Showy 
Orchis, is here presented in our group. 
This pretty plant is not, indeed, of very rare occurrence ; its 
locality is rich maple and beechen woods all through Canada. 
The colour of the flower is white, shaded, and spotted with pink 
or purplish lilac ; the corolla is what is termed ringent or throated, 
the upper petals and sepals arching over the hollow lower-lipped 
petal. The scape is smooth and fleshy, .terminating in a loosely- 
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