Title: Contributions from the Botanical Laboratory, vol. 11
Identifier: contributionsfro11univ (find matches)
Year: 1934 (1930s)
Authors: University of Pennsylvania. Botanical Laboratory; University of Pennsylvania. Morris Arboretum
Subjects: Botany; Botany
Publisher: Philadelphia : (s. n. )
Contributing Library: Penn State University
Digitizing Sponsor: Lyrasis Members and Sloan Foundation

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fulifiir T. Wherry O nh is rofn ndifolia NorlluTii N'tTnioiit, June, I0J4. s-pliaijnuin moss, wliidi is likoly to Ik* ivcc from jj.irasilic 4H\i;anisms. AIaivk-iiooi) Oriiiii), Orchis ((iiilr-orcJiis) sf^ritiihilis Linnr. ^^^)st l)()oks j^ivi' the common name of this httle ))lant as Showy Orchid, a mere translation of tiu* technical name. In the writer's opinion, however, it is preferable to nse common names which are reallv descriptive of the ))lants, and as in this case the species is less slunvy than many other orcliids, an alternative term is a(loj)ted here. 1'he favored habitat of this sj)e- cies is what is connnonK' termed a rich woods, its roots spreadint^ throni^h the decompost-d leaf-litter. Becanse of the current view that leaf-mold is an acid material, it is (jflen classed anions aci to the tendency of the plants to re- main thus hidden until stimulated by some as yet unknown natural )>he- nomenon. \\ hen they fail to ap;)ear the season after transplanting, thev are likelx to l»e classed as dead, and other thinjLts to be ))lante(l in the same spot. .More often, however, the movinii^ of the roots from one place to another simply results in furnishing a new item of food for ^ V 1 rodents, beetles, sIug^s, or other or- i^anisms which chance to be more abundant in the "arden than in the orchid's native haunts, and failure to reappear due to annihilation. A(.\rvK-si»oTTKi) Oiuiiii). (hcliis rot mill ifolia lianks. Tn contrast to the precedinu^ spe- cies, this is a decidedly northern plant. Where it managed to sur- vive glaciation is indeed somewhat of a mvsterv, for it now grows apparently oidy in territory from which all vegetation was wiped out bv the last ice sheet. Presumablv somewhere within its vast range from Montana to eastern Quebec and north to Yukon province a col- ony was spared, and furnished the stock to reoccuj)y the area after the ice melted away. The fact that it has been unable to spread south further than Herkimer and Lewis counties, in north-central New ^'ork. shows its recpiirement for cool sunnner conditions, and the suggestions previously made as to cultivating the Rams-head Orchid apply equally well to it. In addi- tion, it demands a continuous sup- ply of water containing lime. INTENTIONAL SECOND EXPOSURE

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