Part 42

Stem.—Four-angled, with leaf-like bracts, rising from fleshy, fibrous roots. Leaves.—Two, oblong, shining, three to six inches long. Flowers.—In a loose spike, purple-pink, the lower lip white.

This flower not only charms us with its beauty when its clusters begin to dot the rich May woods, but interests us as being usually the first member of the Orchis family to appear upon the scene; although it is claimed in certain localities that the beautiful Calypso always, and the Indian moccason occasionally, precedes it.

PLATE LXII

SHOWY ORCHIS.—O. spectabilis. ]

A certain fascination attends the very name of orchid. Botanist and unscientific flower-lover alike pause with unwonted interest when the discovery of one is announced. With the former there is always the possibility of finding some rare species, while the excitement of the latter is apt to be whetted with the hope of beholding a marvellous imitation of bee or butterfly fluttering from a mossy branch with roots that draw their nourishment from the air! While this little plant is sure to fail of satisfying the hopes of either, it is far prettier if less rare than many of its brethren, and its interesting mechanism will repay our patient study. It is said closely to resemble the “long purples,” O. mascula, which grew near the scene of Ophelia’s tragic death.

TWISTED STALK. Streptopus roseus. Lily Family.

Stems.—Rather stout and zigzag, forking and diverging. Leaves.—Taper-pointed, slightly clasping. Flowers.—Dull purplish-pink, hanging on thread-like flower-stalks from the axils of the leaves. Perianth.—Somewhat bell-shaped, of six distinct sepals. Stamens.—Six. Pistil.—One, with a three-cleft stigma.

This plant presents a graceful group of forking branches and pointed leaves. No blossom is seen from above, but on picking a branch one finds beneath each of its outspread leaves one or two slender, bent stalks from which hang the pink, bell-like flowers. In general aspect the plant somewhat resembles its relations, the Solomon’s seal, with which it is found blossoming in the woods of May or June. The English title is a translation of the generic name, Streptopus.

WILD PINK. Silene Pennsylvanica. Pink Family.

Stems.—Four to eight inches high. Leaves.—Those from the root narrowly wedge-shaped, those on the stem lance-shaped, opposite. Flowers.—Bright pink, clustered. Calyx.—Five-toothed. Corolla.—Of five petals. Stamens.—Ten. Pistil.—One, with three styles.

PLATE LXIII

TWISTED STALK.—S. roseus. ]

When a vivid cluster of wild pinks gleams from some rocky opening in the May woods, it is difficult to restrain one’s eagerness, for there is something peculiarly enticing in these fresh, vigorous-looking flowers. They are quite unlike most of their fragile contemporaries, for they seem to be already imbued with the glowing warmth of summer, and to have no memory of that snowy past which appears to leave its imprint on so many blossoms of the early year.

In waste places, from June until September or later, we find the small clustered pink flowers, which open transiently in the sunshine of the sleepy catchfly, S. antirrhina.

PINK LADY’S SLIPPER. MOCCASON-FLOWER. Cypripedium acaule. Orchis Family (p. 17).

Scape.—Eight to twelve inches high, two-leaved at base, downy, one-flowered. Leaves.—Two, large, many-nerved and plaited, sheathing at the base. Flower.—Solitary, purple-pink. Perianth.—Of three greenish spreading sepals, the two lateral petals narrow, spreading, greenish, the pink lip in the shape of a large inflated pouch. Stamens.—Two, the short filaments each bearing a two-celled anther. Stigma.—Broad, obscurely three-lobed, moist and roughish.

Graceful and tall the slender, drooping stem, With two broad leaves below, Shapely the flower so lightly poised between, And warm her rosy glow,

writes Elaine Goodale of the moccason-flower. This is a blossom whose charm never wanes. It seems to be touched with the spirit of the deep woods, and there is a certain fitness in its Indian name, for it looks as though it came direct from the home of the red man. All who have found it in its secluded haunts will sympathize with Mr. Higginson’s feeling that each specimen is a rarity, even though he should find a hundred to an acre. Gray assigns it to “dry or moist woods,” while Mr. Baldwin writes: “The finest specimens I ever saw sprang out of cushions of crisp reindeer moss high up among the rocks of an exposed hill-side, and again I have found it growing vigorously in almost open swamps, but nearly colorless from excessive moisture.” The same writer quotes a lady who is familiar with it in the Adirondacks. She says: “It seems to have a great fondness for decaying wood, and I often see a whole row perched like birds along a crumbling log.” While I recall a mountain lake where the steep cliffs rise from the water’s edge, here and there, on a tiny shelf strewn with pine-needles, can be seen a pair of large veiny leaves, above which, in early June, the pink balloon-like blossom floats from its slender scape.

PLATE LXIV

PINK LADY’S SLIPPER.—C. acaule. ]

——— ——— Calopogon pulchellus. Orchis Family (p. 17).

Scape.—Rising about one foot from a small solid bulb. Leaf.—Linear, grass-like. Flowers.—Two to six on each scape, purple-pink, about one inch broad, the lip as if hinged at its insertion, bearded toward the summit with white, yellow, and purple hairs. The peculiarity of this orchid is that the ovary is not twisted, and consequently the lip is on the upper instead of the lower side of the flower.

One may hope to find these bright flowers growing side by side with the glistening sundew in the rich bogs of early summer. Mr. Baldwin assigns still another constant companion to the Calopogon, an orchid which staggers under the terrifying title of Pogonia ophioglossoides. The generic name of Calopogon is from two Greek words signifying beautiful beard and has reference to the delicately bearded lip.

PINK AZALEA. WILD HONEYSUCKLE. PINXTER FLOWER. SWAMP PINK. Rhododendron nudiflorum. Heath Family.

A shrub from two to six feet high. Leaves.—Narrowly oblong, downy underneath, usually appearing somewhat later than the flowers. Flowers.—Pink, clustered. Calyx.—Minute. Corolla.—Funnel-shaped, with five long recurved lobes. Stamens.—Five or ten, long, protruding noticeably. Pistil.—One, long, protruding.

Our May swamps and moist woods are made rosy by masses of the pink azalea which is often known as the wild honeysuckle, although not even a member of the Honeysuckle family. It is in the height of its beauty before the blooming of the laurel, and heralds the still lovelier pageant which is even then in rapid course of preparation.

PLATE LXV

PINK AZALEA.—R. nudiflorum. ]