THE ONTARIO
Natural Science Bulletin,
Journal of this
WELLINGTON FIERI) NATURALISTS’ CLUB.
Guelph, — Ontario.
No. 6. 1010.
On Fundy's Shore.
BY PROF. JOHN DEARNESS, LONDON, ONT.
THE student and lover of nature who has always resided in
inland Ontario can scarcely conceive how greatly he would
enjoy a midsummer visit to the Maritime Provinces.
Engagements that took the writer to Nova Scotia in the sum-
mers of 1908 and 1909 afforded him opportunities of learning
something of the natural attractions of that part of Canada.
In a general way Ontario offers the student a greater abundance
and variety of bird-life and possibly too of insect-life, but in
the phenomena and materials that make up the sciences of
botany, geology, mineralogy, topography and meteorology, not
to speak of the phenomena and organic life of the seashore, no
section of Ontario can well compare with certain favored regions
of the Provinces by the Sea.
Along the shores of the Bay of Fundy one may easily find
the most ancient as well as the most modern geological forma-
tions. Not less than a dozen of these horizons outcrop within
a radius of that many miles of the City of St. John. These
include the Huronian and older pre-Cambrian rocks, stratified
gneisses, quartzites, slates and limestones, and even graphite-
beds. On the highlands, within the corporation of the city, the
observer may stand on presumably one of the earliest islands
to emerge from the primeval ocean. Not far distant, on the
eastern arms of the Bay, he may witness as rapid and exten-
sive formation and stratification of land as is to be seen in any
part of the globe at the present day.
Closely associated with thes features, so interesting to the
naturalist, and to a large extent conditioned upon them, are
numerous, well-developed and profitable lines of industrial activ-
ity. Mining and fishing, farming and fruit-raising, lumbering
A
THE ONT. NAT. SC. BULLETIN — NO. 6.
and manufacturing, are, each and all, well exemplified in one
place or another around the head-waters of the Bay.
Twenty-four hours by rail will take the traveller from Mon-
treal to Truro, the railway center of Nova Scotia. From Truro
the naturalist may make a delightful circuit of Minas Basin
and its eastern extension, Chedabucto Bay, doing the journey
in two or three days’ driving, or if so inclined, lingering along
the way for a month. Whether he be geologist or botanist,
Truro’s beautiful, natural parx, with its winding, wooded paths,
sheer cliffs of rocks full hundred feet in height, and its pictur-
esque falls, will hold him for a day. Then to see the landscape
from the heights o’erlooking the town, and stretching for miles
towards the west over the dyked meadows bordering the Salm-
on River, is well worth the effort of climbing that the view
costs.
Eeaving Truro by’ the north-west bridge over the Salmon
River, a drive or bicycle trip of forty miles along a fairly good
road, leads one through a number of shore villages — Folleigh,
Grade Village, Bass River, Kconomy, Five Islands — giving peeps
of water and dyked shores, and dashes through rocky woods.
It is a constant succession of up-hill and down-dale as one
crosses the narrow valleys of the numerous streams that seek
their outlet in the muddy tide.
Between Kconomy and Five Islands the tourist has to climb
the Gerrish Mountain. The road is steep, but passable for
either carriage or automobile. The view from the Gerrish,
covering, as it does5 farm, village, water and opposing moun-
tain-side, is, so far as I know, unsurpassed.
Five Islands obtains its name from that number of lofty
precipitous rocks that rise like mountain peaks abruptly out
of the Bay. A comfortable and homelike hostelry, looking over
the restless tide that washes the bases of these mountain islets,
will tempt the traveller to linger.
Another stage to Parrsboro, whence by boat he crosses the
west end of Minas Basin to Kingsport and Wolfville, passing
under the shadow of the Loof-off at Cape Blomidon. This is
a bold promontory, affording a view of water, shore line, farms,
DEARNESS— ON FUNDY’S SHORE.
5
orchards and mountains which some well-travelled people have
declared the finest their eye ever rested upon.
Here one finds himself in the garden of the Gravenstein. For
the most part, compared with S.-W. Ontario,, Nova Scotia and
New Brunswick are inhospitable to the apple ; but one of the
several remarkable contrasts that surprise the visitor is the
suddenness with which he emerges from a region where there
is scarcely a barrel of edible apples to the township, to one
that rivals the Grimsby strip itself. I once heard the Director
of the National Experimental Farms deny the person’s claim
to know the apple in perfection until he has eaten ripe Graven-
steins in the Annapolis Valley.
As will be seen by consulting the map, the road returning
to Truro along the southern shore takes one through the Land
of Evangeline, where the little village of Grand Pre, “ distant,
secluded, still, lay in the fruitful valley.” Here he will be
shown the stumps of the willows that once lined the ancient
road along which Evangeline passed to the ships in the Basin,
and the foundation stones of the church in which Father Feli-
cian prayed for the oppressor. One can hardly fail to suppose
that had Longfellow visited this valley - garden he would have
enriched his poem with touches that might have strengthened
its truth and beauty.
It would too greatly extend this paper to describe in detail
all the interesting biological features of these shores. The range
of elevation, rock, soil, moisture and salinity bring into close
relation a larger number of plant societies than I have ever seen
elsewhere within an equal territory. A list of the upland plants
unfamiliar to a resident of Southern Ontario would include the
rhodora and the lambkill in their .season, “ unprofitably gay ”
but beautiful enough to justify their being.* In later August
*The purple petals fallen in the pool Rhodora ! if the sages ask thee why
Made the black water with their beauty gay ; This charm is wasted on the earth and sky
Here might the red-bird come his plumes to cool ; Tell them, dear, that if eyes were made for seeing
And court the flower that cheapens his array. Then Beauty is its own excuse for being. — Emerson.
6
THE ONT. NAT. SC. BULLETIN — NO. 6.
melting blueberries ready to fill the hand outheld for them ap-
peal almost in vain to the passer-by. Byebright and bartsia,
leontodon and matricaria, cadlock and carraway, lady’s mantle
and yellow-rattle, — now one and now another, catch the atten-
tion by their beauty or local abundance.
A curious and interesting wild-plant society springs up in
the old, unstirred meadows dyked off from the sea. When these
salt marsh lands are well cultivated they produce most luxuri-
ous crops of hay — “ tall, rank grass that sweep the horse’s
sides,” — but when untilled for many years, they become the
home of a host of sedges, wild- grasses, caryophylls, labiates
and vetches. You can easily fill your plant - press on one of
these old meadows.
But the most curious of all is the undyked salt-marsh soci-
ety. These plants, growing in the slippery but compacted mud,
receiving daily baths of salty water, and exposed to the direct
rays of the sun and the sweep of the wind, have adapted them-
selves to conditions that are in some respects not unlike that
of the desert. Among them are perennials with extensive root-
ing systems, suggesting the binding grasses of the sand dunes
and annuals with small roots and linear succulent leaves. One
doesn’t know when to stop taking the seashore golden-rod,
with its large, handsome, glossy leaves; the candelabral sam-
phires, with their fleshy cylinders of indistinguishable stem,
flower and leaf; the marsh rosemary, with its airy, lavender
flower-sprays, catching the eye from afar, and the salt - water
plantain, whose abundant spear-like leaves make of pot - herbs
one of the wholesomest. If the inlander goes botanizing on
Fundy’s shores, let the salt-marsh be the first and the last he
visits, even although of too many of his gatherings, when he
brings them home, he will say with Bmerson, “they left their
beauty on the shore.”
MORRIS— ORCHIDS OF ONTARIO.
7
Orchids of Ontario.
BY F. J. A. MORRIS, PORT HOPE, ONT.
FIFTEEN years ago the present writer was induced by a col-
league in the High School to take up botany. And he
cannot now be too grateful for the advice or thankful that
he acted on it. After 25 years of English country life he was
finding himself hard to acclimatize. Things seemed strange.
He had learned (as boys do) without conscious effort to know
and name all the birds of his neighborhood by sight or song,
by nest or egg; the flowers of the field and wood, the hedgerow
and lane, the marsh and hillside were all familiar, and their
household names came to mind at the bidding. Now every-
thing was different; the world seemed bewitched — a topsy-turvy-
dom of changelings ; blackbirds had become starlings, robins
grown to thrushes, the very rooks turned to crows, and their
lazy caw to a sharp, querulous bark, like a fox-terrier’s ; he
asked for daisies, and they gave him gowans (marguerites); for
cowslips, and, behold ! marsh-marigolds. But a month’s use
of Spotton enabled him to identify plants for himself, and in a
few seasons he was on nodding terms with most of the wild
flowers of Ontario.
We all have our favorites, but most plant-lovers will admit
the attraction of the rnonocotyledons, especially the charm of
the lilies and the peculiar fascination of the orchids. It is the
story of how I made friends with the orchids that this paper
tries to tell.
In my first season, about the end of May or early in June,
I was lucky enough to find a Yellow Lady’s-slipper. It was
in a hardwood bush, rather low-lying and moist. An elm had
been blown down; its roots, welded into a solid mass with soil
and turf, stood up 6 or 8 feet from the ground; right on the top
of this in a grassy nook stood Cypripedium parviflorum , a most
graceful object, an upright leafy stem crowned resplendently
with a flower in full bloom.
This was a tempting lure to anyone, certainly too tempting
for me to withstand, and my eagerness to gain acquaintance
8
THE ONT. NAT. SC. BULLETIN — NO. 6.
with the orchids in their native haunts became intense. Had
I simply been scouring the countryside without any system, my
search would probably neyer have extended to the many incon-
spicuous forms of orchid. But working with a botany book is
a very different thing ; as soon as you find a flower and identify
it, there comes the scientific interest of comparing it with kin-
dred forms; the intellectual interest of classification is added to
the aesthetic interest in form and color ; the more species of a
genus, the more genera of a family you find, the more pleased
you feel; and in this systematic botany (however amateurish),
beautiful blooms and homely or inconspicuous live on level
terms.
Within a day or two of finding this Lady’s-slipper I met my
first rein-orchid, in another wood, rather more swampy, and
bordering on the Rideau River ; it was only half-grown, and the
flower spike did not develop fully for a fortnight. It was,
however, already recognizable by the pair of large round leaves
lying flat on the ground, one on each side of the tall scape with
its flower spike; the leaves of a rubbery smoothness were dark-
ish green above and silvery white beneath ; it was the Large
Round-leaved Rein-orchid (Habenaria orbiculata) .
About a week later I made my way along a half-submerged
path through willows and cat-tails into a wooded swamp ; the
ground was spongy and of a peaty soil, as was evident from
occasional ant-hills and patches of sphagnum moss ; under the
trees were several plants of the common Northern Rein-orchid
(Habenaria hyperborea) , with its leafy stalk and dense spike of
inconspicuous green flowers. After struggling some ioo yards
into the wood I was surprised to find myself emerge into a sun-
bathed clearing, roughly circular in form, with a diameter of
perhaps 50 yards ; the floor of it spongy and cool with the peat
moss, broken here and there by large ant-hills and straggling
patches of huckleberries and Labrador tea.
The silence and the solitude in the heart of the woods fill
one with a sense of awe that seems never to pass away. For
all the hundreds of times that I have penetrated to the home of
those shyest of woodland denizens, the orchids, it is still with
MORRIS— ORCHIDS OF ONTARIO.
9
bated breath that I step from the shadow of the trees into the
sun-lit space beyond ; there is a feeling of mystery, as though
one were entering a fairy ring and might with enchanted eyes
see sights elsewhere hidden from mortal gaze. This eerie sense
of the supernatural was fed that day by a startling sound from
the depths of the wood that made me pause to listen, while
my heart thumped out an involuntary echo. At first I thought
it was someone at a distance beating the ground with a heavy
mallet, but soon the blows became so rapid that this explana-
tion failed, and I was driven to suppose it some strange ma-
chinery, as there was a mill dam on the river about a quarter
of a mile away. During the hour or more that I wandered
about the clearing, the sound was repeated several times at ir-
regular intervals. This was my first summer in the Canadian
woods, and you are welcome to your laugh when I tell you I
had never heard a partridge drum before !
If the flowers are not fairies, they are the nearest thing ta
them that the gross eye of man can see. “Where the bee sucks ,
there suck I.” We cannot see Ariel any more, but we may in-
fer his presence where we watch the bee sip his draught of nectar.
To a lover of flowers in a new land, this woodland glade was
indeed a corner of fairyland, and many an elfish form I found
disporting itself within the magic circle : the Dwarf-cornel or
Bunchberry, with its petaloid bracts of white ; the coralline
spikes of the Pyrola, and (hidden in a thicket of evergreens)
the graceful Clintonia, with its down-bent bells ; the delicate
vines of the Cranberry and the Twin -flower, Tinnaeu’s darling
god-child. And who should be lords of the revel if not the
Tady’s-slippers ? For they were there, all about the edges of the
ring and in the open; the Yellow Tady’s-slipper, with its cup of
glistening gold and a petal streaming out in a dark spiral at
either side, and — paling all else into insignificance by its resplen-
dent glory — that marvel of our northern swamps, Cypripedium
hirsutum (spectabile or reginse), the Purple Lady’s-slipper, with
its snowy petals and globular cup of delicate purple.
I have never seen anything, even among the exotics of the
hothouse, to surpass the magnificence of this flower. It is a.
IO THE ONT. NAT. SC. BULLETIN — NO. 6.
great lover of moisture, and never ventures far from the cool
springs it drinks so greedily at ; the stem is thick and succu-
lent, often when you pull a flower the stalk drips water where
it has been broken ; it is also very leafy with hirsute foliage,
and the leaves form reservoirs at their sheathing base, the rain
running down their upper sides into the axils. In open spaces
and where the soil inclines to be firm, the plant takes a some-
what stunted form, ranging in height from 8 to 18 inches ; in
moist soft moss it will exceed two feet, and in swampy woods
deeply shaded I have met giants that stood breast-high as I faced
them, the flowers poised on the pedicel well over four feet from
the ground. Older and larger plants usually have two blos-
soms at the top of the stem, one expanding a few days after
the other and on a shorter or less erect pedicel. When the
blossom first opens, by the upper sepal and side-petals drawing
away from the labellum, the lip at the outer edge of the opening
into the pouch is often flushed with the richest of purple, a kind
of deep magenta, almost wine-dark ; once in a while this rich
hue lasts till the bloom is fully out.
Before the close of this my first summer term in a Canadian
school, a boy from the country brought in a bunch of the Stem-
less Eady’s-slipper. My eager quest of the orchids had sent me
again and again to my Spotton, to con over the species of
Cypripedium , and in my innocence of botanical terms and the
absence of illustrations, I had conjured up a picture of a dwarf
among Eady’s-slippers with a stalkless bloom resting sessile on
the ground between the pair of basal leaves. I now learned that
a stalk without leaves was called a scape. Cypripedium acaule
is stemless in a technical sense, but it has a very obvious stalk,
thick and stiff, io or 12 inches high; the pair of leaves do not
lie flat, but grow upwards at an angle to the scape ; they are
oval and shiny green, but not smooth, hirsute and apparently
a little sticky, for gnats and small insects are often to be found
adhering to the surface. At the top of the scape behind the
flower is a green bract, ovate to lanceolate in shape; the peri-
anth is greenish brown, but the lip is pale pink intersected by
rose-red veins; the shape of the lip or cup is peculiar; it droops,
MORRIS— ORCHIDS OF ONTARIO.
ii
pendulous, almost limp, the longest of the Cypripediums from
base to tip and somewhat compressed at the sides ; it has not
nearly so much of the full inflated appearance of the Yellow
and the Showy (purple) Lady’s-slippers; it looks as though it
had been blown out once to its full distension and had then
sunk in on the air escaping from the bladder or pouch, which
has a crumpled appearance ; this fancy (idle as it is) is rather
strengthened than dissipated by an examination of the top of
the labellum, which is fissured down the centre and has the
edges turned down as though they had fallen in. I have more
than once found a dead bumblebee immured in the prison cell
of the pouch, as though the flower had gone a step too far in
its anxiety to secure insect fertilization. The Cypripedium
acaule is more fond of shade than the C. pubescens , and is usu-
ally found in the immediate neighborhood of evergreens; but, on
the other hand, it seems to venture further from moisture than
any other species of Lady’s-slipper. It will grow abundantly
among rock-blueberries, rooting on granite with no foothold but
the grey lichen or dry flannelly moss; in such places, however,
it demands the shade of evergreens, and probably it gets more
moisture than you might suppose; for it blooms early in June,
and in such rocky woodland retreats there is plenty of snow and
slushy water till well on in May.
By no sort of coaxing could we prevail on our country pupil
to disclose the whereabouts of his orchid-swamp. But my col-
league in charge of the botany class had tramped the woods
about Barrie and the muskegs of the Northwest, and before the
term ended we had ferreted out the presence of a mud-lake about
3 miles from the town. No sooner was the school closed than
we set off, “ bright and early ” one July morning, with some
sandwiches in our pocket, a Spotton, a botany-can, and hearts
big with hope.
A novel experience is not easily forgotten, and the first sight
of new flowers makes an impression well-nigh indelible. I know
this mud-lake now so well from end to end and from side to
side that it is curious to hark back 14 years or more to a time
when it was absolutely strange. I remember wondering, by the
12
THE ONT. NAT. SC. BUTTETIN — NO. 6.
way, whether a mud-lake was a lake of mud or a pond of muddy
water, or what ? Geologically these mud-lakes appear to be due
to the same general formation as ordinary lakes; they represent
big shallow pockets or hollows in the rock-strata. In hilly dis-
tricts where there are plenty of good steep slopes for water-
sheds, you get ravines traversed by streams and open at the
lower end ; but in flat country and on table lands, the ravine
has its lower end raised to a level with the upper end and be-
comes a trough that must be filled before the water can resume
its restless search for a lower level ; a mud-lake with its sur-
rounding marshes is a trough of this kind.
The swamp we were heading for was nearly two miles long
and perhaps % of a mile across at the widest; the upper end a
narrow neck, down which a stream of water flowed to lose it-
self in the widening marsh, among shrubs and trees that served to
weld their spongy bed of peat and sphagnum into a compact
mass. Sphagnum is the chief agent in the formation of peat;
as it decays below, it grows in layer upon layer above, till it
reaches an amazing bulk ; it retains a tremendous amount of
moisture and can support great weight on its surface; but it is
not a little treacherous, and is beset with man - traps, in the
shape of openings and muskrat holes, into which the unwary
may easily slip waist-deep or worse. If you jump on it or
stamp, you will set cedars and tamaracks rocking quite a num-
ber of yards away. At first one has a very uncomfortable sense
of insecurity and treads gingerly. As a rule, however, there
is not much danger of Carver Doone’s fate in these places, or
even of serious immersion; for the surface is bountifully grown
with sedges, herbaceous plants and shrubs; a majority of these
belong to the Heath family, viz.: Cranberries, Huckleberries, An-
dromeda, Labrador tea and American laurel ; Bog Myrtle or
Sweetgale is also. a common shrub. The centre of these orchid
swamps is rarely visible from the outside, as there is a belt of
woodland round it; this has first to be penetrated before you
reach the lake. Usually for some distance above and below
the lake there are no trees towards the centre where it is wet-
test; tamaracks venture out furthest from the drier ground and
MORRIS— ORCHIDS OF ONTARIO.
13
next to them spruces and cedars; they never grow more than
15 or 20 feet high in such situations. The sides of the lake
have a margin varying from 2 or 3 to 30 or more yards where
the trees grow only sparsely; these margins are simply sphag-
num covered with Huckleberries and other shrubs of the ‘Heath
family.
The mud-lake in this swamp was about y2 a mile long and
% broad. Too shallow to swim in, it is deep enough to drown
you a dozen times over. Apparently it had about two feet of
water in it, but without even blinking it .swallowed a 20 -foot
pole at a gulp, and then asked for more. Its bed is nothing
but a solution of peat particles in water, with the consistency
of gruel and reaching goodness knows how far down. On the
lake were beds of Yellow and White Tilies, and at the margin
Arum lilies and Pickerel-weed; in the sphagnum near the water
a profusion of Cranberries, Buck-beans and Pitcher plants.
Our approach to the swamp had lain across a rocky pasture,
then down a steep slope where the rock cropped out, into a
moLst belt of wood; parts of this were evergreen, and where the
pine and hemlock had raised banks of soil with their roots or
made them with their fallen foliage, rather above the swamp
level, we found lots of Cypripedium acaule ; further in, where no
trees but a few cedars and tamaracks grew, we came on a huge
colony of Yellow Lady’s-slippers ; in some places they grew so
thickly that with the stroke of a scythe you might have gath-
ered in a sheaf of the blossoms ; amazing as this was we saw
an even more wonderful growth of Cypripedium hirsutum before
the day was over ; there were such masses of them that we
could have gathered an armful with the sweep of a sickle. These
Yellow Bady’s-slippers were mostly of the form known as pubes-
cens , though jnany were parvifiorum. I have found this orchid
in many stations, hardwoods and the top of steep ravines, as
well as in swamps, and I have never been able to satisfy myself
that there were two species; I hold the latest editors of Gray’s
Manual well advised in calling it one species with a variety.
The plant is almost identical with the European Cypripedium
calceolus.
14
THE ONT. NAT. SC. BULLETIN — NO. 6.
LTnder the evergreens where the acaule was blooming, I found
some green stalks and swollen capsules of another Lady’s-slip-
per, very small, the flower over, though it had evidently been in
blossom 2 or 3 weeks before. I had to wait 11 months to
satisfy my curiosity; but patience was well rewarded and curi-
osity more than justified, when, at the beginning of June next
year, I made my way with breathless expectation to the
stranger’s retreat. It was indeed the Ram’s-head Lady’s-slip-
per (C. arietinum). Some of the botanists say it is not re-
markably pretty, only quaint-looking ; all agree that it is the
rarest of its genus. I have found it in 4 or 5 places ; it re-
sembles acaule in its preference for shade and evergreens, but
it will also grow in wetter ground than acaule. I have seen
it growing profusely in the slushy moss of a tamarack swamp,
and occasionally it may be found immersed in water among
the grasses and sedges with few or even no tamaracks to shade
it. One station that I know for it is peculiar : on a- high
table-land, several hundred feet above Lake Ontario, at the
upper edge of a pine wood, within a few yards of a clump of
brackens and (in their season) orange lilies, stands a large pine
tree, one of a score or more of similar outposts at the corner
of the wood; its spreading branches begin a foot or two from
the ground; under this canopy at the close of every May spring
from their bed of pine needles a hundred plants of Cypripedium
arietinum , blow in early June and disappear again, evanescent
as a flight of warblers.
The plant in appearance closely resembles a small Yellow
Lady’s-slipper, the stem having similar leaves, thinner and
smoother in texture than those of C. hirsutum. The form of
the flower is peculiar; the lip is whitish, streaked with rosy
veins; the mouth of the pouch is woolly with white hairs; the
pouch itself is oddly shaped, being prolonged downwards on the
under side in a gradually narrowing blunt-pointed beak; as the
front wall of this beak drops almost sheer while the back wall
slopes forward in its descent, the tip of the beak is under the
front of the pouch — it is a deep inflated pocket rather than a
pouch or cup. Towards the tip the whitish, veined cup assumes
MORRIS— ORCHIDS OF ONTARIO.
15
a greenish hue, even when the blossom is fully out. It is cer-
tainly diminutive ; but, to my way of thinking, exceedingly
pretty. A peculiar interest attaches to this species, from the
fact that its 3 sepals are separate. In the other Cypripediums,
one sepal stands erect behind the column and the other two lie
welded together as one broad sepal underneath the labellum ;
in the Yellow Tady’s-slippers the suture of this under pair of
sepals is incomplete, so that their common apex is split into
two tips. In the Ram’s-head the two lower sepals are entirely
distinct; as these and the side petals are much alike, greenish-
brown and narrow, the flower seems to be a labellum with a
perianth of 5 similar streamers, one above (the broadest), one
at each side and two beneath.
The same swamp added three new species to my beginner’s
modest little list of Habenarias . In the marshy woods at one
side of the swamp I found the Habenaria bracteata , a green
rein-orchid, easily recognized after a little experience; the low-
est leaves are much larger than those higher up, smooth, thick-
ish, dull dark green; the plant is about 1 ft. high, with 4 inches
of a flower spike; as a rule there are 5 leaves on the stalk (oc-
casionally 4) , the lowest is the shortest and broad blunt obvate
or spatulate in shape; the next is the largest and longest, but
more ovate and sharper pointed; the next is about as long, but
broad lanceolate; the next shorter and narrowly lanceolate, sim-
ilar (though larger) to the long narrow bracts subtending the
flowers. The flowers themselves are small and green, the lip a
narrow oblong cleft at the apex into 3 teeth, the centre tooth
shorter than the lateral pair; the spur is sac-shape, not unlike
its analogue in the insect world, the honey bag of a bee; it is
whitish, pellucid, almost transparent, and of so delicatei a mem-
branous texture that it withers up and shrivels before the rest
of the flower shows trace of decay.
In the open near the mud-lake among the Buck - beans and
Pitcher-plants were quite a number of stalks of Habenaria dila-
tata ; it is very similar to hyperborea in character, though usu-
ally more slender and with narrower leaves; the little flowers
are snow white and deliciously fragrant ; the smell without
i6
THE ONT. NAT. SC. BUIAETIN — NO. 6.
being heavy like that of hyacinths or some of the lilies is yet
full-bodied and rich, a pure sweetness, reminding one a little of
syringa or basswood at its prime.
A week or two later I found the extremely handsome Habe-
naria leucophcea. I had no illustrations of orchids in those
days, and not being familiar with any species like leucophcea ,
I wrongly identified the plant as Habenaria blephari glottis. This
idea remained fixed till last summer, when I discovered H.
blephariglottis in great abundance on the margin of a mud-
lake north of Muskoka. I had then to rearrange my ideas of
the Fringed Orchids, and was for some time doubtful whether
this early find of mine was leucophcea or lacera. Many of my
readers are probably amateurs like myself, and doubtless find
just such difficulties as have beset me, cropping up all along
the orchid-hunter’s path; so I shall attempt a description of
the orchid and mention some of the points of distinction be-
tween it and those I had confused it with.
The plants of leucophcea stood up well over two feet in
height, some of them over three feet ; they grew in the open
swamp close to one corner of the mud-lake ; near them were
plants of H . dilatata ; the stout stem was leafy with several
long narrow lanceolate leaves ; the flower spike was loose, on
an average 4 inches long and 2 inches wide; the flowers (12 to
16 in number) large with long (1% inches) somewhat clavellate
spurs; the general impression you got was of white flowers with
a greenish tinge on the sepals; but the flowers are not white; I
have found the plant a dozen times and in swamps 200 miles
apart, and the flowers have never been white; to make certain
of the color one had only to set side by side a spike of H .
dilatata and one of this Fringed Orchid; by contrast with the
former’s snowy gleam, leucophcea shows jaundiced yellow ; in
point of fact it is of a delicate cream color, something like that
of basswood blossom. The flowers are fragrant with a delicate
odor suggestive of English meadow-sweet, or of elder, but more
faint and subtle. The lip is large, % of an inch wide and about
the same length from base to tip, broadly fan-shaped and divid-
ed into 3 irregularly wedge-shaped divisions, the middle division
MORRIS— ORCHIDS OF ONTARIO.
17
much the largest ; all these divisions are cut to the middle (at
the sides almost to the base) into 'a copious fringe; the spur ( ix/2
inches) is much longer than the ovary, in the lower third of its
length thickened (clavellate) and then tapering again to a blunt-
ish tip. It is at its prime about July 15. H^abenaria lacera
I have never found, but it appears to be of a similar color to
leucophcea ; the lip is 3 parted, but the segments are narrow and
the fringe of the side segments consists of only 3 or 4 long
threads an inch long); the spur is clavellate as in leucophcea ,
but it is shorter than the ovary, being about % of an inch long.
Blephari glottis has a simple lip ovate in shape, something like
a tongue, slightly convex and fringed round the sides and tip;
the spur (about % of an inch in length) is slightly longer than
the ovary; it is not clavellate, but tapers evenly to a point ;
the blossom is snow-white and conspicuous from a distance; it
is not a glistening or waxy white, but dead white like paper
without any sizing; it flowers from the latter part of July till
the middle of August; the plants are not as large as those of
leucophcea , ranging from 10 to 20 inches in height; the flower
spike is denser and not so wide, ranging in length from I inch
to 2% inches, in breadth from I inch to 1% inches; the spurs are
straighter and point more directly downwards; in leucophcea , the
spur is generally boldly curved like a strung bow.
The only other fringed orchid known to me is the Smaller
Purple Fringed Orchid (Habenaria psychodes) . It is fairly com-
mon about the margin of willow swamps near the Rideau and
in beaver meadows about sluggish peaty streams; it is a beau-
tiful orchid in its native haunts uprearing its broad raceme of
mauve purple among meadow-rue, tall sedges and clumps of
spiraea. The lip is fan-shaped and tripartite with the divisions
fringed; in this as in its fragrance it resembles leucophcea.
We pass from the H abenarias of this swamp to a group of
3 orchids that come next in Gray’s Manual. I mean the Beard-
tongue (Pogonia), the Grass-pink (Calopogon) and the Are-
thusa. These were all growing in the wet sphagnum near the
lake; all are beautiful in various shades of magenta, from deep
crimson to pale pink. The Calopogon was conspicuous at a
*8 THE ONT. NAT. SC. BULLETIN — NO. 6.
distance by its height (12—18 inches) and handsome spreading
branchlets of 3 to 7 or more bright magenta blossoms. It grows
from a hard corm-like bulb, has a single long grass-like leaf,
whose base sheathes the stem; it is our only orchid whose ovary
is not twisted. The lip of an orchid is really the upper petal,
but the ovary is twisted so that the corolla is given a complete
turn; the upper petal becomes the lower and so placed develops
strange shapes and properties with a view to cross-fertiliza-
tion through insect agency; the spurs, for instance, at the base
of the lip are horns filled with nectar to entice insects to enter
the flower, and they are so placed that in reaching them the
insect gets dusted or plastered with pollen and then smears the
pollen on the stigma of the next flower it visits. The Calopogon
has, so far as is known, no store of nectar ; and in any case,
the lip being above the reproductive parts, a secretion of nec-
tar from any part of the lip would be useless — without some
additional modification. If you examine the lip which stands
up erect above the column you will see that it is hinged ; fur-
ther, the face of it is adorned with a brush of gaudy yellow
and magenta hairs; whether the insect makes for these in the
belief that they are stamens from which it may gather pollen,
or merely sees a good place to cling to — a bush, as it were, jut-
ting from a steep wall, or what; anyway, it alights there, and
its act of settling springs the booby-trap; down goes the lid
and dumps the insect- victim backwards on to the column; the
column lies more or less prostrate or horizontal and is widened
at the outer end like the top of a crutch; the jar of the insect’s
body starts the pollinia out from their sockets ; the insect
squeezes forward to get out of the blossom over the end of the
stigma, its stickied abdomen touches the pollinia threads which
at once adhere tightly; at the next flower the pollinia are left
on the stigma. The puzzle (if this process is really verified)
remains, how insects as intelligent as bees can continue to be
made boobies of by this trap. Darwin practically upset Spren-
gel’s theory that many flowers were 11 false nectar-producers,”
by demonstrating that many of the Habenarias supposed to
contain no nectar in their spurs had the secretion stored between
MORRIS— ORCHIDS OF ONTARIO.
19
the inner and outer walls of tissue; he found moreover the inner
wall so delicate that a human hair could pierce it, and it be-
came pretty certain that insects perforated this inner wall and
so got at the nectar.
The blossoms of the Calopogon are. more or less resupinate,
i.e., lying on their back and facing upward; the hinge of the lip
works1 so easily that if the wind sways the stem or if you jar
the stalk the lid or lip falls forward and down. You seldom
find more than 2 or 3 flowers open at a time, the lower ones
fading before the top ones burst open. Its flowering season is
the first half of July.
The Pogonia has a single flower of light rose red or more
usually pale magenta pink; the stalk is usually 8 or 10 inches
long, not quite, erect, but bending over its bed of watery moss;
midway on the stalk is a sessile lance-shaped leaf and a second
(smaller) at the base of the ovary; the sepals and petals droop
forward in a kind of loose hood over the lip, which is crested
and fringed on the face with yellow and whitish fleshy hairs.
The flowers have a characteristic odor, which some liken to the
smell of raspberries; I think this goes a good way to prove that
our language of smells is still in its infancy ; there are a hun-
dred times as many distinct and recognizable smells as there
are shades of color, yet we haven’t a tenth part the vocabulary
of scents that we have of tints. All we can say when we smell
a flower is that it’s “like such and such another smell — only
different.” Those who have studied our ferns will recollect
that the Fragrant Shield-fern (Aspidium fragrans) is described
as having a scent “like crushed raspberries”; no one who has
smelled the delicious scent of the Fragrant Shield-fern would ever
be reminded of Pogonias, or vice versa; the scent from the fern
is highly aromatic and suggests a spice ; some resiny powder
that Puck might fill King Oberon’s snuff-box with. A scent
like vanilla, I was going to say, which by a curious coincidence
makes me seem to be arguing in a circle; for vanilla is a spice
derived from an orchid in the same group as Arethusa and
Pogonia ; but the aroma belongs to the dried capsule, and like
all spices suggests dry tissue, whether wood, bar.k or root. The
20
THE ONT. NAT. SC. BULLETIN — NO. 6.
fragrance of Pogonia is not aromatic ; while distinctive, it is
delicate rather than stro(ng; the reverse, of pungent as most spices
are; it suggests moisture; and it suggests sphagnum; yes, even
the peat bogs with which the flower is associated, as well as
mere sweetness. Probably like most smells it is a very com-
plex sensation, for1 1 find in it also a quality peculiar to orchids,
it even reminds me a little of the smell of the yellow lady’s-
slipper — only different.
The Arethusa does not venture out into the open grass and
moss so near the water; it prefers the shelter of low huckleberry
and other bushes some yards back from the mud-lake. Here,
with its bulb safely set in moist sphagnum, it raises its graceful
form to a height of 8 or io inches; the erect scape sheathed by
two or three bracts and bearing at the summit a single erect
blossom somewhat like that of the Pogonia, with lip crested
and ridged with yellow and whitish fleshy hairs; but the flower
is crimson or red magenta in color, not pale, and the perianth
is erect; a sepal and two petals upright behind the column, and
flanking these but slightly forward of them, two more sepals
partly erect but their tips drooping or arched forward. It sug-
gests quaintly to one’s fancy a creature startled and listening
intently. It is as fugitive as it is shy; the blossom is rarely
seen before the middle of June, it is gone by the close. Small
as it is, the Arethusa is exquisitely beautiful . and matchless
in elegant grace of outline.
The total number of species secured in this swamp was
about 15, but two years later I was shown a sphagnum swamp
of even more wonderful richness in orchids. It is larger and
has no mud-lake in the centre ; it forms a rough oblong from
two to three miles long and nearly a mile across at the wid-
est. From end to end runs a path, usually half submerged and
always boggy and treacherous, but rich in sphagnum. If you
keep to this path it will lead you first through a dense wood
of small tamaracks growing in wet moss ; then through a
beaver meadow or marshy clearing with stumps and scattered
shrubs; then through a spruce wood ; then through another
beaver meadow, and finally out through pines to higher ground.
MORRIS— ORCHIDS OF ONTARIO.
21
At one side of the path near the centre of the swamp’s length
lies a partly-drained huckleberry marsh shut in on all sides by
trees ; pines, spruce and tamarack on the inner sides, poplar at
the outer side near the high ground ; it As obscured by rows
and clumps of trees scattered over its surface; a difficult place
to find, a still more difficult place to lose, and a nightmare to
tramp over in the blazing noon of a July day. But everywhere
throughout the length and breadth of the swamp there are
orchids. I have never had a chance to exhaust the wealth of
the swamp throughout the long season at which orchids bloom,
but nearly every year for more than io years I haye spent a few
days there, never earlier than the end of May or later than the
middle of August. If one lived there the year round and had
leisure, I don’t doubt as many as 30 species of orchid would be
found within its limits. This is really a remarkable range, for
all Ontario has very little more than 40 species.
One of the first finds I made on striking into the path
through this swamp was the Liparis loeselii. Its favorite home is
wet thickets and springy banks ; in wet thickets and wooded
swamps it seems to have a peculiar fondness for a track of
some kind, often growing in the padway or ruts of a grassy
winter-road, or the trodden hollows of a footpath, usually in
water ; in such stations the plant is of a lax habit, the pair of
keeled basal leaves spreading limply out at a wide angle from
the scape ; patches of Marsh Marigolds are often its compan-
ions in such situations ; but in .springy banks where its com-
panion is often the Adder’ s-tongue Fern it is smaller and more
rigid, the leaves more upright and appearing to support the
flower stalk as it were in a vase. The leaves are elliptic, pale
green and oily smooth, 5 or 6 inches long by an inch or so in
width ; the flowers are few, greenish in a loose raceme ; the
parts of the perianth are linear, the petals threadlike in their
narrowness ; the lip juts forward horizontally and is then de-
flected in a widened apex of pellucid yellowish green, wavy-
crisped or scalloped at the edges. It flowers from June to July.
Close to it I found some spikes of another small green
orchid with a single ovate leaf, its petiole sheathing the base of
2'2
THE ONT. NAT. SC. BULLETIN — NO. 6.
the stalk, the blade spreading about an inch higher; the whole
plant only 5 or 6 inches high; the upper half a narrow spike of
tiny whitish green blossoms standing on fairly erect short pedi-
cels (about 1-9 inch long), the spike so strict as hardly to ex-
ceed 1-3 of an inch in width; the parts of the perianth acute,
the petals narrower than the sepals. ; the lip ovate and pro-
longed to a sharp tip ; it proved to be Microstylis (Acroanthes)
monophylla ; I have often found it with Eoesel’s Twayblade in
the wet paths and roads of wooded swamps. I have also found
it abundant in the leaf-mould of some dark and damp decidu-
ous woods, and once near Jones’ Falls, on the Rideau Canal, I
found it plentiful on one side of a steep rocky hill (only sparsely
shaded with trees) growing in clefts and ledges of rock. From
the latter part of June into July is its flowering season.
This same swamp harbors the other species of this genus ;
round the edges of the partly-drained blueberry - marsh I have
found it at the end of July and in August — Microstylis unifolia
(ophioglossoides) . It is a more delicate-looking plant ; about
6 inches high, the leaf sheathing the stem in a loose funnel and
spreading out into an oval blade half way up the stem ; the
flower cluster is a loose raceme about 1% inches long and 2-3
or 3-4 of an inch wide; the flowers are on long pedicels (1-4 to
1-3 of an inch long), very slender and filiform ; the lip of the
flower is somewhat truncate and 3-lobed, the lateral lobes longer
than the centre; on. the lower half of the raceme the flowers are
scattered, spreading and distant; at the upper half they become
crowded and grow upwards to a flat top; looked at from above
the top of the raceme is almost as flat as a tiny umbel — corym-
bose, you might call it ; as the flowers are resupinate and face
upwards, it has the curious appearance of having been artificial-
ly flattened, as though a sheet of glass had been held over the
top of the raceme till the flowers at the summit of their thread-
like pedicels had all been checked at the same point in their
upward growth. The difference in general outline between uni-
folia (ophioglossoides) and monophylla resembles that between
the Tiarella with its short spreading raceme of “foam-flowers”
MORRIS— ORCHIDS OF ONTARIO.
23
and the Mitella with its long strict spike of nearly sessile blos-
soms.
Near the far end of the blueberry marsh were some clumps
of fairly tall spruce hemmed in by thickets of straggling shrubs ;
in this dense shrubbery I found many plants of the Stemless
Lady’s-slipper and occasional stalks of the Long-pediceledMicro-
stylis ; while right in under the spruces along with C: acaule was
Goodyera repens (Epipactis ophioides) , with its little one-sided
raceme of white woolly flowers and its spreading tufted rosette
of green leaves boldly veined or chequered with white. It flow-
ers in August, and further north in the forests of the Algonquin
Park it is abundant; as is the larger one-sided raceme of Good-
yera Mensiesii (Epipactis decipiens) . They are usually under
evergreens, and pubescens is found in the same locality, easily
distinguished by its raceme not being one-sided.
I found also in this swamp Habenaria obtusata , a frequent
companion of the Goodyera, but with a much wider range, in-
deed coextensive with the swamp in wet and dry, but always more
or less shaded spots; its single slightly-stalked leaf rises from
the base to a height of 4 or 5 inches, the scape reaching twice
that height with a few-flowered loose raceme of greenish-white
flowers, the lip entire and lanceolate, deflexed, about % of an
inch long; the spur about the same length.
Where I first found the Long-pediceled Microstylis at the end
of July, I was puzzled by an orchid — for so it seemed — that
was only just in bud; it was growing, a few spikes of it here
and there in the damp sphagnum at the edge of a ditch serving
to drain part of the blueberry marsh. I marked the place care-
fully, and returning a fortnight later enjoyed the treat of first
acquaintance with the Ladies’ Tresses. The species was Roman-
2offiana. Sturdy erect stems, some of them a foot or more in
height, a tuft of upright grass-like leaves at the base; a thick
crowded spike of white (or sometimes creamy) flowers tinged
with green, in a spiral of three ranks; the flowers standing out
at right angles to the stem ; the sepals and petals connivent
(united) in a hood over the lip ; the lip is described as pan-
durate (i.e., fiddle-shaped) ; if you follow its roughly oblong
24
THE ONT. NAT. SC. BULLETIN — NO. 6.
outline from the base to the tip you will see it is slightly con-
tracted or pinched at the sides just forward of the base, and
again more strongly just short of the dilated crisped apex. There
is a second species very similar that flowers a month later and
lasts on into October, Spiranthes cernua ; the lip is not pandu-
rate, but wavy-crisped at the sides and in front towards the
apex; near the base on the upper surface of the lip are two
small nipple-shaped callosities ; the two lower sepals are not
connivent over the lip with the other parts of the perianth, but
free. It is frequently found in moist meadows and springy banks
and I have often seen it in such places in company with Iyiparis,
Adder’ s-tongue Fern, Fringed Gentian, Grass of Parnassus and
the Targe Blue Lobelia (L. syphilitica) . Both these species are
deliciously fragrant; one writer says like violets, another like
the bloom of the horse-chestnut ; it reminds me (along with its
honey sweetness) of the smell of almonds or bruised laurel, and
1 think there is in the fragrance of the horse-chestnut blossom
just a suggestion of almonds. Perhaps all three statements
may be partly reconciled if we suppose the first writer to be
referring to the scent of the little white .violet of the swamps and
peaty cedar groves ; its scent is decidedly aromatic, a spicy
sweetness, as is the scent of Spiranthes.
There are two more species of Ladies’ Tresses that I have
found. One (Spiranthes latifolia or plantaginea) blooming in
the middle of June in moist grass and the “ stodgy ” soil on
the margins of running streams; the flowers are smaller and form
a narrow tube; the lip has a spot of yellow on the face of it ;
the other (Spiranthes gracilis ) grows in pine barrens and sandy
plains; the flower spike is one-sided, but as the stalk is twisted
spirally 3 or 4 times, the flowers wind in a slender gradual spiral
about the stem. I do not mean, of course, that the stem is
spiral like a corkscrew; but if you were to hold the top of the
stem taut in a vertical position and then roll it round in one
direction a few times between finger and thumb you would pro-
duce the effect; imagine a length of string formed of 3 strands,
2 green and 1 white; if you follow the white strand up, your
eye will trace a spiral round and round the string ; that white
25
MORRIS— ORCHIDS OF ONTARIO.
strand is the one-sided raceme of flowers in Spiranthes gracilis.
The flowers individually form small very narrow tubes. I have
only found it twice, once in High Park (Toronto) and once near
the Rideau.
One more orchid remains to be mentioned as found in this ex-
traordinary swamp. It is found in watery moss under the
tamaracks within sight of the central path. In those days it
was known as Habenaria rotundifolia , but it has since been
transferred to its true genus of Orchis. Orchis rotundifolia is
decidedly uncommon ; I have never found it anywhere but in
this swamp, and it is far from abundant there. It is showy
and easily recognized by the single broadly ovate or nearly or-
bicular fleshy leaf near the base; the parts of the perianth are
ovate oblong and of a pale purple or rose color ; the lip is
longer than the sepals and petals and longer than the slender de-
pending spur, being from 1-4 to 1-3 of an inch long; it is thick
and fleshy, of a waxy white spotted with deep purple or ma-
genta; the shape of the lip is 3-lobed, the lateral lobes near the
base, short and acute, the center lobe carried forward in an ob-
long, dilated and notched or bilobed at the apex.
Our only other species in this genus is much more common,
the Showy Orchid; yet all the years I was in Bastern Ontario
I never chanced to see Orchis spectabilis , though other collect-
ors were more fortunate. When I came to Port Hope, how-
ever, I found one of the showy orchid’s favorite haunts. This
was a hardwood bush of beech and maple, with pine at one
corner and hemlock scattered throughout. The soil was peaty
and rich with vegetable mould, quite swampy in parts and damp
and springy everywhere.
Here at the end of May and early in June, Orchis specta-
bilis is rife, usually in moist situations under the shadow of
the hemlocks. Tike its congener rotundifolia it has a loose 4-
to 6-flowered raceme. In place of a single leaf it has a pair of
light fleshy green leaves that enfold the scape as it were* in a
cup ; the lip is entire, long and ovate, fleshy and snow white
(as a rule); the perianth is described as magenta in the bota-
nies, but it in no way resembles the magenta of the Calopogon,
26
THE ONT. NAT. SC. BULLETIN — NO. 6.
or even of the Arethusa, which is lighter than the Calopogon,
or yet of the Pogonia, whose magenta varies from bright to
pale rose-pink. All purples, of course, are blended of red and
blue; in magenta (to my eyes) the dominant color note is red;
in the perianth of Orchis spectabilis , it seems to me, blue pre-
dominates; if I were asked to name its color, I should say pale
mauve (or heliotrope ?) of an extremely delicate shade; it con-
veys to the eye a sense of dreamy softness in which the out-
line of the flower seems to melt ; as long as one looks at the
fleshy white lip the eye seems to find a solid resting-place, well
defined; but once the eye travels to the mauve perianth, it is
hard 'to tell where the edge of the flower passes into the shadowy
spaces beyond; as though the bloom exhaled a kind of ethereal
vapor in which it floated nebulous.
The editor of Gibson’s “Our Native Orchids” says of Hook-
er’s Habenaria that it is often found with the Showy Orchid.
Curiously enough, rare as Hooker’s Orchid is with us, I have
found it not uncommon in this one wood so rich in the Showy
Orchid. Sometimes it is in damp shade under the hemlocks,
but more generally in fairly firm soil near the base of beech
trees. It very closely resembles H . orbiculata , but there are
several points of distinction in structure and appearance as well
as in habitat. No one seeing the two together, I imagine, would
have any difficulty in separating them and correctly identify-
ing. The real trouble is, one seldom gets a chance to compare
the two, as they seldom grow together. Orbiculata prefers
swamps and the dense shade of low damp woods, usually ever-
green ; in general appearance it is larger, lighter green, and
looser in its raceme than Hooker’s Orchid. The flowers are
whitish green on the face and the very long (3-5 of an inch to
1 inch) spur is clavellate towards the apex. The flowers of H.
Hookeri are decidedly yellow-green on the face ; this is seen on
a close view to be caused by two lateral spots of yellow at
the throat ; the spurs are not clavellate, but taper uniformly
to a slender tip. The stalk of orbiculata is bracted, while that
of Hookeri is always bare ; in both plants the stalk is apt
to be twisted so that the parallel lines and grooves running
MORRIS— ORCHIDS OF ONTARIO.
27
vertically up the scape form a spiral ; one last point I have
noticed : the flowers of Hookeri are so poised that the spurs
point more or less directly downwards, while in orbiculata they
hang traversely ; so much so that the tip of the spur some-
times passes behind or in front of the scape and projects beyond.
The surest point of distinction is, however, the character of the
spur in the two. Hooker’s blooms in June, the other in July.
In the same wood and in most of the beech and maple woods
in this neighborhood I have found the Downy Rattlesnake Plan-
tain (Goodyera pubescens) ; and also wherever the woods are
damp and dark enough with plenty of rich vegetable mould you
will find the Many-flowered Coralroot (Corallorhisa multiflora) .
A common companion is the Indian Pipe, a brother parasite
among the Heaths.
The Corallorhizas are named for their curious roots, which
are much branched into a mass of short fleshy tuberous knobs,
whitish and brittle ; the plants are saprophytes, deriving their
nourishment from decaying wood and roots; they pay for their
degenerate habit by an entire lack of chlorophyll, so that none
of them has any trace of foliage or green coloring. Two species
are fairly common, one small with a light muddy brown stalk
having 2 or 3 sheaths in place of foliage ; the scape 6 or 7
inches high with a spike of 8 or 9 small dull purple or brownish
flowers having a white or whitish lip ; it is called trifida , from
the lip having 2 small lateral lobes above the base ; the old
name was innata ; it flowers in May or early, June and is found
in wet shaded places; I have found it in swamps of alder, wil-
low and poplar, and also in marshy woods with Idparis and the
Short-pediceled Microstylis. The other common one is Coral-
lorhisa multiflora (maculata) ; a much taller, stouter plant, dull
purple or madder brown; the flowers dull purple with the lip
white spotted with magenta-crimson ; its flowering season is
July.
There are besides two rare species in Ontario. One large,
larger than C. maculata , having very large flowers (for the
genus) with a limp drooping habit; the plant is dull purple or
madder; the lip conspicuously striate with deep purple lines ;
28
THE ONT. NAT. SC. BULLETIN — NO. 6.
there are 3 stripes of brighter purple on every part of the peri-
anth ; the plant is a western form and is very local in Ontario.
Here in Port Hope about 3 years ago two small children
emerged from a w^ood with their hands full of this orchid ; it
has never been seen since. Twice it has been found by a friend
of mine near the Rideau Rake, in damp dark woods, once with
Orchis spectabilis. Last June a plant was sent from Port Syd-
ney (Muskoka) to the late Dr. Brodie. It had been found grow-
ing in the grass-border of a road close to a deep dark wood
of mixed evergreens and deciduous trees ; the species is called
C. striata (Macrcci) ; its flowering season is June, usually the
earlier part of the month. A fourth species comes from the
south and is occasional in Southern Ontario; it is as small as
C. innata but purplish rather than dirty yellow, and its small
flowers have some rich purple spots on the whitish lip; the base
of the scape is thickened like a corm ; it is called odontorhisa ,
but whether the root is really ' ‘toothlike” or not I do not know;
it is said to flower from July to August ; I have only once
found it and that was at the beginning of July when it was just
out in bloom. The genus is almost spurless; most species are
gibbous beneath at the base of the lip; the species multiflora or
maculata is peculiar in having a developed spur.
Out of some 40 species of the orchids described in Spotton I
had as long as 10 years ago come upon the homes of 28 ; till
3 years ago my list received no extension. But in the last 3
seasons I have been able to add 8 new species ; some of these I
have already mentioned in dealing with other species of their
several genera. Two or three remain to be named.
The first is the Helleborine, Epipactis ( Serapias) Hellebo-
rine ; it is probably not a native ; in all likelihood it was in-
troduced from Europe in the earlier days of herbalist doctors
for its reputed virtue as a medicine. It has been found in three
neighborhoods only on the whole continent — Toronto (Ont.),
Syracuse and Buffalo (N.Y.) ; this is surely significant ; a true
native would not have hung on the outskirts of a city. It was
in High Park (Toronto) that I found a colony of these settlers.
They were situated on the shady margin of a small stream
MORRIS— ORCHIDS OF ONTARIO.
29
among rank grass and alluvial deposit; they were in full bloom
at the beginning of September; their season is said to be from
July to August. The plants ranged from 12 to 20 inches in
height. An average specimen would be 15 inches high. There
is a curious symmetry in the growth of the stem and foliage.
1 will describe an average plant. For 5 inches up from the
root the stem is in appearance almost leafless, but really it has
2 (or 3) sheaths; the lowest of these sheaths has no developed
blade, the next has a small tag of blade, erect and pointed like
a scoop; the upper sheath widens above and spreads away from
the stem into an ovate pointed leaf about I inch long and more
than % inch wide; these sheaths are distant, 2 to 3 inches apart.
For the next 4 inches the plant is conspicuously leafy with 4
(or 5) alternate leaves an inch apart ; the lowest ones sheath-
ing, but passing gradually to sessile (the top one or two being
sessile); in shape the lower leaves are broadly ovate, the upper
ones are lanceolate carried on to a long narrow acuminate tip;
in size, the lowest leaf is little more than % the length of the
next above it ; the 3rd leaf is as wide as the one next below
it but longer; the 4th is as long as the 3rd but narrower. This
central part of the stem is apt to be slightly zigzag, as though
the alternate sheathing leaves altered the stem’s axis of growth.
Above these leaves the stem is bare for 2 inches; then the one-
sided raceme of 4 or 5 inches in length begins ; each flower is
subtended by a lanceolate bract, each a little smaller than the
one below it ; these bracts are of course simply the continuation
of the stem’s alternate leaves ; though the lowest bracts are 3
or 4 times as long as the flowers they subtend, they are not
very conspicuous owing to the heavy appearance of the ovaries
and perianths of the flower spike. The foliage is very thin, of
a bluish green hue and strongly nerved. Altogether the plant
looks as though it grew from a leafless base through a leafy
centre to an almost naked raceme.
The flower is not in any sense showy, but it is of great in-
terest to the botanist from its structure, and from the fact that
its British congener (Epipactis latifolia) was one of the orchids
Darwin examined to see how cross-fertilization by insects was
30
THE ONT. NAT. SC. BULLETIN — NO. 6.
effected. He has described this and the ingenious mechanism
of the flower in his book on orchids, with all that marvellous
accuracy and unerring judgment that characterize his writings
and mark him intellectually one of the giants of the ages.
The lip, as you know, is that petal of the orchid which has
been specially modified to secure insect fertilization. In the
Epipactis the perianth is green suffused with dull lilac or mauve;
the lip is also dull mauve, darker within. On a larger scale
and in a more highly specialized form the lip resembles that of
the Rattlesnake Plantain. It juts out horizontally from the
flower in the shape of a ladle ; the fore part of the ladle drops
abruptly into the form of a narrow U-shaped hinge the outer
side of which is lower than the inner ; onto this outer half of
the hinge is jointed the prolonged apex of the lip, flat, running
to a point and slightly deflected from the horizontal ; in some
species this hinge is elastic, but in this orchid it is stiff ; the
whole structure of the lip suggests a sauce - boat with its lip
pulled out into a slightly-depressed flat-pointed spout; this flat
spout is a platform for insects to stand on ; the sauce in the
boat is a secretion of nectar distilled by the flower. When the
insect withdraws its head after sipping, the pollinia are plas-
tered onto the back of its head from the column above and then
smeared on the stigma of the next flower visited.
In the August of 1907, while on a fern-hunting expedition in
the Algonquin Park, I was delighted to add 3 new orchids to
my list. One of these, the Menzies1 Rattlesnake Plantain, I
have already spoken of. The second was one of the Eisteras
or Twayblades, Lister a ovata ; a tiny plant ranging in height
from 4 to 7 inches ; the spike of from 6 to 12 tiny blossoms,
varying from 1 to 2 inches in length; the spike is strict, barely
% inch wide ; the little ovaries (somewhat globose) on pedicels
rather .shorter than themselves (about 1-12 inch long). There
are 3 species in the genus, which is easily recognized by the pair
of sessile more or less ovate leaves borne midway up the stem.
In L. convallarioides , the lip is narrowly cuneate notched at the
apex into 2 rounded lobes, the pedicels 1-4 — 1-3 inch long. In
ovata , the lip is narrowly oblong twice length of petals, cleft
MORRIS— ORCHIDS OF ONTARIO.
3*
to about half way into 2 long- tapering spikes. In australis the
lip is linear, 4 to 8 times length of petals, cleft more than to
half way into 2 linear bristles ; the pedicel in this species is
longer than the ovary. The blossom was nearly over when I
found the plants early in August, and probably the middle of
July is their season. They were growing in a densely wooded
swamp of tamaracks and spruce among sphagnum moss ; in
their immediate neighborhood were the Habenarias obtusata
and orbiculata , and the club moss, L. annotinum.
My last find was Habenaria tridentata \(clavellata) ; it
blooms from the middle of July till mid- August ; it was fairly
abundant growing always in the open, in wet sandy soil of the
shallow troughs skirting the railway, or on the moist floor of
shallow gravel pits ; its usual companions were Lycopodium
inundatum and Romanzoff’s Radies’ Tresses. It is very easily
recognized, having an appearance peculiar among the Rein-or-
chids. It grows from 5 to 15 inches high on a pale stiff woody
stalk; about 1-3 of the way up the stalk (sometimes nearer the
base, occasionally near the middle) is a single well-developed
leaf, somewhat sheathing, oblanceolate (occasionally spatulate,
rarely ovate), from 2 to 3 inches long and from % — 1 inch wide;
above it are one or two small narrow bracts. The flower spike
is very short, varying with the height of the plant from I — 2
inches in length ; the raceme is loose and spreading, more or
less cylindrical, from % — 1 inch wide ; the flowers are small,
creamy white tinged with green ; the lip is oblong and dilated
at the tip where it is tridentate or 3-lobed ; the small teeth
sometimes merely giving a sinuate outline to the apex of the
lip. The spur is longer than the ovary ; clavellate, and curv-
ing somewhat in on itself like the slender abdomen of an insect
preparing to sting ; the flowers are so poised that the spur is
directed back horizontally from the base of the lip to the stem
across which the apex passes.
I have never found Habenaria Hava (virescens) which is
common in New Kngland and southward ; it seems to have an
appearance similar to our H . hyperborea , but the slender spur
is twice as long as the lip ; the lip which at the apex is truncate
' 32
THE ONT. NAT. SC. BUI/TETIN — NO. 6.
is at the base auriculate (with a pair of small lateral teeth)
and tuberculate (with a raised lump on the upper surface).
Have any of my readers ever seen this Rein-orchid ?
This survey of our Ontario orchids comprises all but about
6 species, and in it all the genera but two are represented. These
are the Putty-root or Adam-and-Eve and the Calypso, each spe-
cies suo genere.
The Putty-root grows in the rich vegetable mould of our
woods and forests. From a solid bulb or corm springs a scape
a foot or more in height with one or two sheaths clothing it ;
at the top of the scape a loose raceme of dull yellowish-brown
or purple flowers develops in May or June; late in the summer
the corm throws up a large oval leaf which lasts over the win-
ter. The corms are filled with an exceedingly glutinous mat-
ter, used by early settlers to mend their crockery with, hence
the name Putty-root ; the quaint nickname of Adam-and-Eve is
apparently due to the fact that the corms (2 or more) often re-
main attached to one another by a ligament of fleshy root, like
Siamese twins. The scientific name, Aplectrum, means spur-
less, because the base of the perianth shows no trace of spur or
gibbous enlargement.
The Calypso, that entrancing nymph of our northern wood-
lands or bogs, is still to seek. It is usually found in sphagnum;
it is abundant in the forests about Banff, flowering early
in June ; it has been found near Toronto in the Don Valley,
and only a few years ago a lady in Rosedale found it in one of
the ravines near her house and sent it for identification to Dr.
Brodie. But it still eludes my search. On the principle of
“see Naples and die,” I used to think if I could only find such
and such a flower Atropos might use “ the abhorred shears ”
when she would. But I have found many a long-sought treas-
ure, and there’s always just one more that I want. At present
(among orchids) my heart’s desire is Calypso. It must be
singularly beautiful.
The corm sends up separately a petioled wide-oval leaf and
a scape ; this latter is 5 or 6 inches high, crowned with a
MORRIS— ORCHIDS OF ONTARIO.
33
solitary showy flower. It appears to resemble a Tady’s-slip-
per, and Iyinnaeus called it Cypripedium bore ale ; the perianth
is magenta-crimson ; the lip is large and saccate, looking like
a wide rounded scoop carried forward to a shovel shape, two
parted in front ; it is white, spotted with madder purple and
having 3 rows of glassy yellow hairs in front.
We men of grass (to use the Indians’ name for Douglas, that
pioneer botanist of our North American conifers) are often taxed
with the selfishness of our hobby. It may be doubted whether
any hobby is unselfish, or indeed any pursuit or passion in the
world. Certainly botany is no more selfish than any other
mode of enjoyment, and surely a hobby exercised in the field of
Natural History has far more purpose and profit than your
average hobby. Did you ever think, too, even if the love of
flowers is selfish, how pure an affection it must be ? There can
be nothing gross about it, for it is quite impersonal. It is not
the love of an, individual ; strong as it is, it goes out equally
to all members of a type; nay, a multitude of types.
In our human loves we must still echo the poet’s heart-cry,
“Never the time and the place and the loved one all together.”
But it is not so with our love of the flowers. Kvery spring
at the renewal of the year, how many a trysting place we know
of in the hush of the woods or the cool of a mossy hollow, and
how well we know, if we sally forth one day at its season, the
loved one will be there to greet us, shyly watchful of our com-
ing ! Is this selfish ? Yet no lover could be more eagerly ex-
pectant, as we approach the place; more tenderly solicitous as
we bend over our woodland fay, holding our very breath, and
with gentlest touch, lest we maim the frail life. We commune
in spirit, and it seems' as though it remembered us ; yet it is
not the flower we saw there before, and it too in its turn will
vanish away ; all this we know, yet there is no sense of loss;
only exquisite sweetness and a purging of the gross.
34
THE ONT. NAT. SC. BULLETIN — NO. 6.
Present Status of the Prairie Warbler in Canada.
BY A. B. KLUGH.
THE Prairie Warbler ( Dendroica discolor) is one of those
birds which is apparently extending its range into Can-
ada, and it would be well at this time to bring our rec-
ords together, more especially so because of several errors which
have appeared in ornithological literature concerning the status
of this species in Canada.
The Prairie Warbler has, up to the present, been taken only
in Ontario. By a remarkable coincidence, the first two speci-
mens were taken on the same, day — May nth, 1900 — at Toronto,
one by Mr. J. Hughes-Samuel, and the other by Mr. J. H.
Ames (Auk, Vol. XVIII., p. 106)
Nothing more was heard of this species in Canada until
1905, when Mr. W. E. Saunders took a female near Cameron
Take, Bruce County, on May 28th, and on May 30th heard a
Warbler song which was new to him. He found the singer, and
identified it as a Prairie Warbler. He subsequently heard at
least two more of these strange songsters. Mr. Saunders pub-
lished an account of his discovery in the Ottawa Naturalist,
February, 1906; p. 206.
Meanwhile I had published in the* Auk, Vol. XXIII., p. 105,
a record of a young male Prairie Warbler which I took on Sep-
tember 5th at Point Pelee, Essex County.
The next record is of a male taken by myself on Mav 17th,
1908, at Colpoy’s Bay, Bruce County, which record appeared in
the Ontario Natural Science Bulletin, No. 5, 1909, p. 25.
Next is a record which appeared in the Ottawa Naturalist,
September, 1909, of a specimen taken near Eganville, Renfrew
County, on May utli, 1909, by Rev. G. Eifrig.
These are all our published records, but I wish here to add
two more, viz., a male, and a female Prairie Warbler, which I
took at the edge of a cedar swamp at Colpoy’s Bay, Bruce
County, on May 10th, 1909. Both were shot in the same cedar
tree, the male some four hours after the female.
KRUGH— PRAIRIE WARBLER IN CANADA.
35
Considering that the migration records of this species in
the United States show that it is one of the earlier Warblers
to reach its breeding grounds, arriving in the northern tier of
States about May 6th— 8th, and that the Canadian records,
omitting Mr. Saunders’ records, run May nth, nth, 17th, ixth,
10th, 10th, it appears highly probable that, as Mr. Saunders
has previously suggested, there is a colony breeding near Cam-
eron Lake, Bruce County, and also that there are probably
colonies at other points in Ontario1.
Botanical Dept., Queen’s University, Kingston, Ont.
A List of Butterflies Taken at Toronto, Ont.
BY ARTHUR GIBSOR, OTTAWA.
DURING the years 1896, 1897 and 1898, the writer devoted
considerable time to a study of the butterflies occurring
in the neighborhood of Toronto. This necessitated, of
course, much collecting in such well-known localities as “High
Park,’’ “ Rosedale,” “ Trout Creek,” etc., all of which were,
fifteen years ago, excellent hunting grounds for the entomol-
ogist. To-day, however, with the rapid growth of the city,
conditions are considerably changed, and houses and other build-
ings have grown up on our former favorite collecting spots. In
some districts where we collected largely, nothing whatever of
the past now remains to remind us of the happy hours we spent
among the trees, shrubs and flowers. The expansion of a large
city demands, of course, new streets and roadways, and during
a recent visit to Toronto I was much amazed at the many
buildings which have taken possession of certain places where
I, in company with other collectors, passed many a pleasant
afternoon.
When asked for an article for the Ontario Natural Science
Bulletin, it occurred to me that a list of the butterflies collected
by me in the vicinity of Toronto might not be without interest
to lepidopterists. In order to add to the value of the list, I
36
THE ONT. NAT. SC. BULLETIN — NO. 6.
include several additional species taken by other collectors, rec-
ords of most of which appear in the Annual Reports of the, En-
tomological Society of Ontario.
1. Danais plexippus, inn. — 'Abundant almost every yearf
particularly during the latter part of the season. On Toronto
Island I have seen thousands of these butterflies clinging to
young willow trees, in autumn.
2. Euptoieta claudia , Cram. — A single specimen of this but-
terfly was taken by me in High Park, in July, 1893. The only
other Toronto record which I know of is of a specimen cap-
tured by Mr. Paul Hahn on the Plumber Road, near the “ Old
Mill,” also in July.
3. Argynnis cybele , Fabr. — Common most seasons, appear-
ing as a rule early in July. In 1896, it was flying in numbers
on June 27. In 1897 I noticed it abundantly all through July.
4. Argynnis aphrodite , Fabr. — This species has often been
found by me in company with cybele. It is a common species
and may generally be collected where thistles grow.
5. Argynnis atlantis , Edw. — In 1896, this butterfly was
fairly abundant in July and August. As a rule, however, it is
uncommon in the Toronto district, frequenting more northern
localities, such as Muskoka.
6. Argynnis myrina , Cram. — In damp places particularly,
this pretty little “silver spot” Is found. It is an abundant
species, occurring probably more commonly in August. It has
been observed from early until late in the season.
7. Argynnis bellona , Fabr.— Common in swampy areas. Have
collected it as early at May 24 ; more abundant in June, July
and August.
8. Melitcea phaeton , Dru. — In the Annual Report of the En-
tomological Society of Ontario, 1894, p. 31, Dr. Bethune gives
Toronto, among the localities where this butterfly has been col-
lected. I have never seen any trace of the insect at Toronto
myself. It occurs commonly some years further north. At
Ottawa we find it almost every season in June in a large swamp
near the Experimental Farm.
GIBSON— BUTTERFLIES TAKEN AT TORONTO.
37
9. Phyciodes nycteis , Doubl. Hew. — Not uncommon in June
and July. I have found it abundantly, particularly about the
middle of the latter month.
10. Phyciodes carlota , Reak. — The late- Capt.,JGeddes is re-
corded as having collected this species at Scarborough, near
Toronto. This is the only record, I believe, of the insect hav-
ing been met with in the district. Scudder gives its distribu-
tion as follows : “South of Tat. 40°, from the Atlantic to the
Rocky Mountains.”
11. Phyciodes hatesii , Reak. — Although this butterfly has
not been taken to my knowledge at Toronto, it is more than
likely that it occurs there. It has been collected at Hamilton;
at Ottawa I have found it on several dates, the last specimen
being captured on June 13,, 1908.
12. Phyciodes tharos , Drury.' — A common species throughout
the summer months, especially abundant in July.
13. Grapta interrogation is, Fabr.— Some years quite common.
We have collected many specimens of this and other Graptas
near or on trees which had been “sugared” for noctuids, par-
ticularly when the trees were visited the following mornings.
The. form umhrosa flies chiefly in June, July and August, and the
form fahricii in August and September, and occasionally in Oc-
tober, according to Dr. Bethune.
14. Grapta comma , Harr. — Also common, especially so in
July. The form harrisi has been found in larger numbers by
me than the form dry as.
15. Grapta faunus , Kdw. — This has been recorded from
Hamilton and Cobourg, and doubtless occurs at Toronto, al-
though I have no actual record of it having been met with there.
It flies from May to October.
16. Grapta progne, Cram. — Abundant ; seen in numbers
through the season, from late May till late September. My
dates of captures read particularly “ July.”
17. Grapta j-album , Boisd.-Iyec. — Common some years in
August and September. Often seen in woods during warm
days in early spring.
38
THE ONT. NAT. SC. BULLETIN — NO. 6.
18. Vanessa antiopa , Linn.— Occurs throughout the whole
summer ; very common towards the end of season. Also seen
in early spring on warm days in open places in woods.
19. Vanessa milberti , Godt. — A widespread species flying in
early spring, and more abundantly in the middle of summer.
20. Pyrameis atalanta , Linn. — This widely-distributed but-
terfly is common almost every year. I have taken it abun-
dantly at Toronto from May 23 to July 28.
21. Pyrameis hunter a, Fabr. — Very common some years,
particularly in late summer, being found mostly wherever late
flowering asters were in bloom.
22. Pyrameis cardui , Linn. — One of the most widely dis-
tributed butterflies. Abundant periodically at Toronto, partic-
ularly towards the middle and end of summer.
23. Pyrameis caryce , Hbn. — The only Ontario record which
I know of for this butterfly, is of a single specimen taken at
Toronto, and given to me by the captor, Mr. Harry Tyers. No
date is on the specimen.
24. Junonia coenia , Hbn. — In 1895, 2 specimens were taken
at Toronto by Mr. Tyers, and in 1896, on May 23, a specimen
was taken in the Don River Valley by Mr. C. T. Hills. Mr.
Paul Hahn recently reported to me that his sister, Miss F.
Hahn, captured a specimen at Toronto, in August. These are
the only records I know of for the district.
25. Limenitis Ursula , Fabr. — This species has been taken at
Port Credit, near Toronto, by Mr. C. T. Hills.
26. Limenitis arthemis , Drury. — Not uncommon in some
years, but more abundant further northward in Ontario. I have
seen it in fairly large numbers in High Park and Rosedale.
Flies in June, July and August.
27. Limenitis proserpina , Kdw. — 1 This butterfly has been
collected at Hamilton. It is rare in Ontario.
28. Limenitis archippus , Cram. — A regularly-occurring spe-
cies, but one which is never very abundant. There are places
GIBSON— BUTTERFLIES TAKEN AT TORONTO.
39
in High Park and Rosedale where I could always find a few
specimens. Taken in June, July and August ; occasionally
seen later than August.
29. Neonympha canthus , Boisd.-Uec. — Rather common in
damp places, appearing in June and July; also found in August.
In 1898 it was abundant in the middle of July.
30. Neonympha eurytris, Fabr. — Usually more or less com-
mon in June and early July ; in 1897 it was abundant all
through June in High Park.
31. Satyrus alope , Fabr., var. nephele, Kirby. — This species
occurs a little later than the preceding. It is generally not
uncommon along roadways, near woods, in July and August.
32. Libythea carinenta , Cram., var. bachmani , Kirtl. — Dr.
Jas. McDunnough has collected this butterfly on two occasions at
Toronto, viz., in 1895 and on June 7th in 1896. It is very rare
in Ontario. On August 12th, 1896, I took a specimen at Caes-
area, on Rake Scugog.
33. Thecla acaaica , Kdw. — Found not uncommonly some
years in July, especially early in the month. In 1896 it was
fairly abundant in the latter half of June and early in July.
34. Thecla edwardsii , Saund. — This species I have taken in
fair numbers near Pligh Park, on the flowers of milkweed. In
1898 it was very common, particularly on July 9th. I have
taken it as late as July 23rd.
35. Thecla calanus , Hbn. — Occurs at the same time as
edwardsii ; by some students it is thought to be the same spe-
cies.
36. Thecla Ontario , Kdw. — The only Toronto records which
I know of of this species are of 2 specimens taken by me, one
on June 20, 1896, and the other on June 27 of the same year.
Both specimens were studied and so named by the late Dr.
James Fletcher. The species is very rare.
37. Thecla liparops , Boisd.-Uec., var. strigosa , Harr. — Not
common in my experience at Toronto. Mr. C. T. Hills took
it in June and July, in 1896.
40
THE ONT. NAT. SC. BULLETIN — NO. 6.
38. Thecla niphon, Hbn. — I have no actual record of this
butterfly having been taken at Toronto, but it doubtless occurs
there. It is a widespread species, having been collected at
Eondon and Ottawa, in Ontario.
39. Theda laeta , Kdw.— This also has a wide range of dis-
tribution, but is very rare. It has been found at York Mills,
near Toronto. It flies in May.
40. Theda titus, Fabr. — I have taken this species rather
abundantly in early July, particularly in High Park. It may
also be seen flying in August.
411. Feniseca tarquinius , Fabr. — A single specimen is all
that I have ever collected of this insect, viz., at Toronto, on
June 4, 1898, in High Park. It must, however, occur abun-
dantly wherever the woolly aphis of the alder is present, on
which the larvae feed.
42. Chrysophanus thoe , Bdv. — The only dates I have a rec-
ord of for this butterfly are July 2 and August 8, 1898. The
species is abundant some years i n some sections; along the River
Don, Mr. R. J. Crew has collected it in fair numbers.
43. Chrysophanus epixanthe , Bd.-Eec. — I have never seen a
Toronto specimen of this insect. Dr. Bethune lists Toronto
among the localities where the species has been taken (Knt.
Soc. An. Rep., 1894). Near Ottawa the butterfly is common
about July 1st.
44. Chrysophanus hypophlce as, Bdv. — Common almost every
year. Many specimens have been collected by me from May
24, through June, into July. The species flies as late as Sep-
tember.
45. Lyccena scudderii , Kdw. — Very abundant in High Park
where lupin grows. Flies from about May 20 to middle of
June, another brood appearing about July 15.
46. Lyccena pseudargiolus , Bd.-Eec. — Not uncommon, the
forms lucia, marginata and violacea appearing in spring, and the
form neglecta in summer. In 1898, the latter was seen in fair
numbers early in July.
GIBSON— BUTTERFLIES TAKEN AT TORONTO.
4i
47. Lyccena comyntas , Godt. — Not common at Toronto, in
my experience. On June 26, 1897, I took one specimen. Mr.
C. T. Hills has also collected the species in June.
48. Pieris protodice , Bd.-Uec. — Very rare now in Ontario.
It has been taken formerly in numbers at Toronto, Hamilton,
etc., from May to October.
49. Pieris napi , L,inn. — The summer form oleracea-cestiva has
been taken by me in July. There is also another form which
has been found in small numbers about May 24.
50. Pieris rapce , Iyinn. — Only too common everywhere in
Ontario from early spring to autumn. One of the worst pests
of the market gardener.
51. Colias ccesonia , Stoll. — In 1896 this butterfly was taken
in numbers at Toronto from June 11 to the end of the month.
Besides a good series collected by the writer, specimens were al-
so captured by Messrs. Hills and Tyers. This is the only year,
I think, that it has ever been taken at Toronto.
52. Colias eurytheme , Bdv. — Occasionally met with in
Southern Ontario. I know of no actual Toronto record, but
specimens have been collected at St. Catharines and Port Hope,
which are not very far from Toronto.
53. Colias philodice , Godt. — Abundant all through Ontario
from May till autumn. It has been seen flying in late October.
54. Terias lisa, Bdv. — This southern butterfly has been found
at Hamilton, 39 miles from, Toronto. ,A few years ago I took
a single specimen at Ottawa.
55. Papilio ajax , Linn. — Uncommon at Toronto. On June
14, 1896, I saw a specimen in High Park flying very slowly.
On June 20 I captured a worn .example, and on June 23 saw a
further specimen. It was also seen on 1st and nth July. In
the same year, Mr. C. T. Hills took four specimens in June.
56. Papilio philenor, Tinn. — As mentioned by me in the An-
nual Report of the Entomological Society for 1896, I am satis-
fied that I saw this butterfly in High Park on June 20. It had
already been recorded from Toronto previous to 1896.
42
THE ONT. NAT. SC. BUIyIvETIN — NO. 6.
57. Papilio polyxenes , Fabr. — Not so abundant at Toronto
as it is further east. I have taken specimens as early as May
24. It flies throughout the summer.
58. Papilio troilus , Finn. — Generally common at Toronto.
In 1896, on June 12, it was plentiful. In 1898, I collected it
in fair numbers on May 15 and 24, and on June 4. I found it
chiefly in High Park.
59. Papilio glaucus) Finn., var. turnus , Finn. — A common
insect in most places in ,Kastern Canada, flying about the time
lilacs are in bloom. In 1898, it was abundant from May 24
till June 26.
60. Papilio thoas , Finn., var. cresphontes , Cram. — A rare
butterfly in Ontario. Specimens have been occasionally col-
lected at Toronto, even within the city. In 1897 a worn speci-
men was taken by Mr. D. Wilby.
61. Ancyloxypha numitor , Fabr. — Mr. R. J. Crew, of To-
ronto, has taken this butterfly in numbers along the River Don,
and along the Humber River Mr. C. T. Hills has found it in
June, July and August.
62. Pamphila hobomok , Harris. — Common towTards the end
of May, and in June. I have never found the variety poco-
hontas abundantly at Toronto; in fact, this form is rare in my
experience.
63. Pamphila leonardus , Kdw. — Some seasons this species is
abundant in High Park, in low, damp places ; I have collected
it in numbers towards the end of August.
64. Pamphila brettus , Bd.-Fec. — The only Toronto specimen
I know of is one taken by me ; unfortunately, I have not the
date. It was identified by Dr. Henry Skinner.
65. Pamphila otho , S. & A., var. egeremet , Scudd. — Not
abundant at Toronto. Dr. Fletcher determined a Toronto spe-
cimen for me in 1898. Mr. Crew, I think, has also taken this
butterfly at Toronto.
66. Pamphila peckius , Kirby. — Very abundant some years.
In 1898 it was flying in large numbers early in July. It first
appears in June ; specimens have been noticed in August.
GIBSON— BUTTERFLIES TAKEN AT TORONTO.
43
67. Pamphila mystic , Scudd. — This species is found at the
same time as peckius , and is also common. It occurs all
through Ontario, Quebec and the Maritime Provinces.
68. Pamphila cernes) Bd.-Lec. — Abundant in June and July,
frequenting the same localities as the two last-mentioned spe-
cies.
69. Pamphila baracoa, Lucas. — A specimen of this species
was taken by me at Toronto, but I have no record of the date
of capture. Dr. Henry Skinner determined it.
70. Pamphila metacomet , Harris. — I have never taken this
butterfly in numbers at Toronto. In 1898, I found it on July
2; in 1896, Mr. C. T. Hills collected it in July.
71. Pamphila viator , Kdw. — This is very rare in the Toronto
district. Mr. R. J. Crew took a single specimen many years
ago, and Dr. Bethune records the species having been collected
on the Humber Plains, near Toronto, by the late Capt. Geddes.
72. Nisoniades brizo , Bd.-Lec. — Not common. Specimens
have been collected, in the latter end of May and early June.
73. Nisoniades icelus , Lint. — This has been collected by me
at Toronto, the specimens having been named by the late Dr.
Fletcher. It may be found also in June.
74. Nisoniades persius , Scudd. — In 1898 I collected this
butterfly on May 24th. It is not, I think, abundant at To-
ronto.
75. Nisoniades martialis, Scudd. — This has been taken in
Southern Ontario, at London, Hamilton and Toronto, accord-
ing to Dr. Bethune.
76. Nisoniades juvenalis , Fabr. — Found in fair numbers
some years, in May and June. Taken in Rosedale and High
Park.
77. Pholis or a catullus, Fab'r. — Dr. Bethune, in the Annual
Report of the Entomological Society of Ontario, for 1894,
states that this butterfly has been collected at Toronto.
78. Eudamus electra , Lint. — This butterfly has been found at
44
THE ONT. NAT. SC. BULLETIN — NO. 6.
Hamilton, by the late J. A. Moffat. It has not, I think, been
met with nearer to Toronto.
79. Eudamus pylades, Scudd. — A very common species, par-
ticularly in May and June. In 1897 it was abundant from
May 24 to June 26.
80. Eudamus bathyllus, S. & A. — Dr. Bethune, in 1894,
listed Toronto as one of the Canadian localities where this
southern butterfly has been collected. In recording this species
in the Entomological Record for 190I' (Rep. Ent. So;p. Ont.,
1901), the late Dr. Fletcher says : “ Three specimens of this
butterfly, which differs from the somewhat similar E. pylades ,
Scud., by the absence of the sexual costal fold in the males,
were taken by Mr. James Johnston at Hamilton, last year.
Although frequently recorded from Canada, I believe that these
are the first specimens which have been examined critically.”
81. Eudamus tityrus , Fabr. — Usually fairly common, the
first specimens being seen about May 24. It flies through June
and well into July.
Schootgarden Experiments with Potatoes.
BY S. B. McCREADY, PROF. OF BOTANY, O. A. C., GUELPH.
SOME simple experiments with potatoes were carried on in
the spring of 1909 by four of the teacher students in the
Spring Normal Class. The problems were concerning the
relative values of large and small potatoes used as “ seed,” or
pieces of different weights and with different numbers of; eyes.
The work was carried on in .small plots, 5 ft. x 10 ‘ft. in
size. In most cases only three or four hills of each kind were
planted. The results tabulated below may be of interest ; at
the same time, they must not be accepted as final conclusions
on the problems : —
McCREADY— EXPERIMENTS WITH POTATOES.
45
EXPERIMENT 1
Different Sizes,
ft. x io ft. plot.)
.—To Compare the Yields of Potato “Seed”
(Four hills of each weight were planted in
Weight of Seed.
No. of Pota-
toes.
Weights.
Total
Weight.
2 ozs
17 small
13 large
6 ozs.)
30 ozs.)
36 ozs.
4 ozs
21 small
- 8 ozs.)
41% ozs.)
49% ozs.
21 large
8 ozs
12 small
5 / ozs.)
57/2 ozs.
19 large
52 ozs.)
EXPERIMENT
2.— To Find the Result of Planting Pieces
Potatoes
of Different Weights,
but With One Eye Each.
Size of
Sets.
Product.
Weights. Total.
VQ oz
3 small
4/ °Z \ 3% ozs.
3% ozs.) 0/2
/8 ^ ,
4 large
XL oz
5 small
% oz. )
4 ozs.) I7°zs-
7 large
2 OZS
8 small
% OZ- ) 14 ozs
33% ozs.) 34
16 large
EXPERIMENT 3.— To Compare the Yields of Pieces of the Same
Weight, but with Different Numbers of Eyes.
Size of Piece. No. of Potatoes. Weight.
i oz. (one eye) 35% ozs.
i oz. (three eyes) , \ 35% ozs.
1 - <fi- <^> xl S 41 OZS.
4*6
THE ONT. NAT. SC. BULLETIN — NO. 6.
EXPERIMENT 4.— To Find if Cutting Up Equal - sized Pota-
toes into Different Numbers of Pieces Makes a Difference in the
Yield.
Size of Seed. Yield.
2 ozs. (one piece) 27% ozs.
2 ozs. (two pieces) 31% ozs.
2 ozs. (four pieces) 31% ozs.
List of the Cynipidae of Ontario.
BY R. FRASER, ’10, O.A.O.
FAMILIAR to all observers of Nature’s phenomena are the
galls produced by the Family Cynipidce , Order Hymenop-
tera. The host plants affected are principally species of
Ouercus, Rosa, Rubus, Vaccinium, and Potentilla. The beau-
tiful and varied characteristics of the different hypertrophies are
too well known to need any particular comment here, but it
might be said that cecidology, as the study of galls is termed,
is yet in its infancy, and that there is a rich field for investiga-
tion in such matters as the alternation of generations, the rela-
tion of parasites and inquilines to both gall and gall-producer,
and the histological structure o the gall tissues.
The mystery of, gall formation is still to be satisfactorily
solved, and here too is a wide field for experimental research
and observation. The writer submits the following list of
Ontario Cynipidae, compiled from the collection and observa-
tions of Mr. T. D. Jarvis, O.A.C., and from the writer’s own
collection and observations.
The list is not as yet complete, but up to the present time
the occurrence of the following species in Ontario has been re-
corded : —
Amphibolips :
A. confiuens (spongifica), O. S.
A. inanis, O. S.
FRASER — CYNIPIDvE OF ONTARIO.
47
Andricus :
A. piger, Bass.
A. petiolicola, Eass.
A. futilis, 0. S.
A. punctatus, Bass.
A. papillatus, 0. S.
A. topiarius, Ashm.
A. lana, Fitch.
A. clavula, Bass.
A. palustris, 0. S.
A. singularis, Bass.
A. seminator, Harr.
A. ventricosus, Bass.
Aulax :
A. tumidus, Bass.
A. nabali, Brodie.
Cynips :
C. strobilana, O. S.
Diastrophus :
D. cuscutaeformis, 0. S.
D. radicum, Bass.
D. turgidus, Bass.
D. nebulosus, O. S.
Gonaspis :
G. potentillae, Bass.
(var. scutellaris, Gillette ?)
Holcaspis :
H. globulus, Fitch.
H. mamma, Walsh.
N euroterus :
N. umbilicatus, Bass.
N. floccosus, Bass.
Philonix :
P. pezomachoides, 0. S.
P. erinacei, Beut.
P. macrocarpae, Bass.
48 THE ONT. NAT. SC. BULLETIN — NO. 6.
Rhodites :
R. bicolor, Harr.
R. rosae, Finn.
R; aref actus, Gill.
R. multispinosus Gill.
R. nebulosus, Bass.
R. radicum, O. S.
R. rosaefolii, Ckll.
R. gracilis, Ashm.
R. globulus, Beut.
R. ignotus, 0. S.
Solenozopheria :
S. vaccinii, Ashm.
The following are of probable occurrence, but I would pre-
fer to keep them separate from the rest until more definite in-
formation is obtained concerning them : —
Amphibolips :
A. nublipennis, Harr.
Biorhiza :
B. nigra, Fitch.
Diastrophus :
D. piceus, Provancher.
Rhodites :
R. lenticularis, Bass.
R. dichlocerus Harr.
Zopher'oteras :
Z. vaccinii, Ashm.
MITCHEEE— NOTES ON EOCAE ORCHIDS.
49
Notes on Local Orchids.
BY F. MITCHELL, INNERKIP, ONT.
TO look back it does not seem so long ago when a portion
of Blandford and Blenheim Townships was the ideal home
of the orchid. Many spruce-girt lakes with sphagnum
margins offered perfect conditions for Pogonias, Galopogons, Are-
thusa, and some of the Habenarias and Spiranthes; while back
a little in partial shade among the tamarack, the Cypripedium
in all its species found a perfect home. In cool hemlock woods
Goodyeras of three species flourished, and even Calypse borealis
could frequently be met with. And so it was with all other
native orchids; for all there was some suitable place, but axe,
and fire, and drainage have done their work, and now but few
places remain where orchids can exist, and even the few re-
maining places are ravaged by vandals who call themselves
nature-students , who pull up all they can ; so it is no wonder
that some species are becoming exceedingly rare, or perhaps al-
together extinct.
I may digress and mention that I have made a little effort
to preserve some of our orchids and other native plants. I have
a few acres of natural woodland, into1 which no stock is al-
lowed to enter, and I am adding to the plants already there
other plants for which the conditions are suitable. I now have
a pretty complete list of the ferns of the district well estab-
lished, and I have a number of orchids, but I have no lake, so
I only plant those to which I can offer suitable conditions.
But to return more directly to my subject, I may say that
last summer I had particular opportunities to form conclusions
as to the orchids still existing in the district ■; as an artist
friend who had undertaken to paint our native orchids asked me
to accompany him, and assist him in securing specimens of all
existing species, I will proceed to note the different species as
we found them in our search.
Pogonia ophioglossoides is seemingly as abundant as ever.
It is to be found in quantity in every sphagnum bog.
5©
THE ONT. NAT. SC. BULLETIN — NO. 6.
Calopogon pulchellus is in many bogs, but not in such abun-
dance as it was some years ago.
Cypripedium spectabile was in abundance in a few places,
and in magnificent form. As we saw it in one swamp it was
worth going many miles to see. Weather conditions appeared
to have been particularly favorable for this and other orchids
the past season.
Cypripedium acaule was also abundant in a few limited
areas, and in good form. In many places where it was plen-
tiful a few years ago it has now entirely disappeared.
Cypripedium pubescens, with its variety parviflorum, could
be found in a few places. Wherever seen the development was
perfect.
Habenaria hyperborea is quite plentiful in moist, cool
swamps. It seemed to vary much in appearance, sometimes
slender and sometimes stout, under the same conditions of soil
or shade.
H. psycodes is common in low woodlands or in open places
which never become exceedingly dry.
H. lacera is by no means universal, but where conditions are
entirely favorable it is fairly plentiful.
H. dilatata is nowhere abundant, but there are many bogs
in which a few plants may be found.
H. tridentata may also be found frequently, but never in
much quantity.
II . orbiculata is becoming very rare. I have a few plants
in my own woods, and I know of only one other place where
plants of this species may be found.
H. leucophea is becoming extremely rare. In my search
for it last summer I began to fear that it had become entirely
extinct, but was at last rewarded by the discovery of a small
colony of six plants. This is our finest Habenaria. The flow-
ers are larger than those of any others, and it is wonderfully
fragrant.
MITCHELL — NOTES ON LOCAL ORCHIDS . 51
Orchis spectabilis bloomed freely in my own woods, but is
becoming very scarce where not protected.
Arethusa bulbosa I found fairly abundant in one bog, and I
believe is yet existing in one other place at least.
Microstylis monophylla I saw in several places.
Goodyera pubescus bloomed sparingly in my woodland, but
the plants are vigorous and increasing in number; while in other
places, where a few years ago there were large patches of it,
it has now entirely disappeared.
Other orchids which existed a few years ago, and some of
which may yet exist, are Goodyeras, repens and Menziesii ;
Corallorhizas, innata, multiflora and Macraeii ; Spiranthes,
plantaginea, gracilis and Romanzofhana, and Aplectrum hye-
male.
The Amelanchiers or Juneberries.
With Particular Reference to Ontario Species.
BY HERBERT GROII.
¥N the hope, not so much of adding anything to our knowl-
f edge concerning them, as of possibly stirring up an interest
in them, on the part of field naturalists, I have chosen to
devote this opportunity of contributing to the Ontario Natural
Science Bulletin, to offering a few brief remarks upon the at-
tractive trees and shrubs named above.
Regarding their attractiveness alone enough will have been
said to Ontario naturalists, who all must know them well, if
we recall their admirable virtue of blooming in early spring
when we are still waiting for the advent of orchard blossoms
to light up the landscape; and recall too, the sumptuous effect
of their banks of bloom at a distance, or at nearer view, the
wonderfully elegant and airy character of the sprays of flow-
ers. Regarding their interest botanically, I hope to show that
even though they may not offer to the seeker after new species
such rich reward as some of their cousins and neighbors, they
5'2 THE ONT. NAT. SC. BULLETIN — NO. 6.
are nevertheless perplexing enough to suit the most fastidious.
Any group of plants of which this much can be truthfully said
ought to be of sufficient interest to engage our attention.
The Amelanchiers are distributed widely throughout the
north temperate zone; Asia, Europe and North America all hav-
ing their species. In Europe they are not only native and
growing wild, but are valued for their serviceableness in land-
scape gardening. In America they are a constant feature of
the flora, right across the continent. The Indians, it is said,
prized them highly for their sweet, pulpy, if somewhat small
fruits. Anyone fortunate enough to share with the birds in
partaking of these so-called berries, must agree that they are
no mean dessert.
With respect to habitat, the Amelanchiers as a genus are
not particularly restricted in range. They are thoroughly at
home in dry open woodlands, especially in the shrubby borders
of such woods. They are to be found too in comparatively wet
situations; in the open country along the edges of fields, where
they often become shapely trees of thirty feet or more in height;
and there are forms which occur in rocky places, in which event
they are commonly dwarfed. I have in mind one locality of
the latter sort where the species spicata is growing in several
areas on limestone strata, having a turf covering of only a
few inches. Each patch is some square rods in extent, like a
thicket of raspberry or osier dogwood, and the closely-crowded
stems composing it are only from one to three feet in height,
and when found were flowering profusely, regardless of size.
It is rather a far cry from trees of thirty feet in height to
the diminutive shrubs just referred to ; and this suggests what
may now be discussed, namely, the matter of discrimination
between species. Before attempting to list species, however,
it is necessary to point out, as was hinted above, that this
phase of our subject is not so amenable to ready treatment as
might seem to be the case. Tike other genera of the Rosaceae,
the Amelanchiers are almost hopelessly variable. It is true
they have not demanded any such prodigality of species mak-
ing as even conservative - minded botanists find necessary in
GROH — AMElvAN CHIERS OR JTJNEBERRXES.
53
Crataegus and Rubus ; but even the few forms which have been
characterized have received most various interpretations.
Examine any collection of Amelanchiers made during past
years, and the truth of this statement is forcibly apparent.
Many names will be found altered, or would be at once altered
if the attempt were made to bring them in line with our pres-
ent views. As an illustration of what the nomenclature has
undergone, it is interesting to notice that the Index Kewensis
(published 1895) has brought together some thirty names, and
of this number has been content to retain only four with the
status of species, the American representatives being canadensis
and alnifolia. American botanists have never stopped at that;
but while they have been united in further splitting up our species „
they have seldom been wholly agreed as to the values to be
given their types, whether that of variety or species. The most
recently issued work, Gray’s Manual, seventh edition, treats the
genus within its range, under four species and two varieties >
besides recognizing the existence of forms of some of the species,
these types all being presumably the canadensis of the Kew
Index. The territory westward adds to these alnifolia) and
several others which will probably be accepted as good species.
Whether this latest word upon the subject is destined to be the
last remains to be seen; but is hardly to be expected, in view
of all the intergradierit forms which remain as a source of con-
fusion.
The species which I have found at Ottawa in my not very
extensive collecting are canadensis , with its variety botryapium ,
and spicata. The latter has been observed in a number of its
variations, some of which were to be accounted for by the dif-
ferences in the conditions of growth, while others seemed, to in-
dicate nothing more .than instability of type in the species, or
perhaps hybridization with other species. The specimens grow-
ing on rock, for instance, were markedly different in habit, size
and general appearance from shrubs otherwise conforming to
the same description, and growing on dry clay hillsides. These
differences, due to environment, seem to be the principal ones
responsible for the former separation from it, as a species, of
54
THE ONT. NAT. SC. BUXTETIN — NO. 6.
rotundifolia. Speaking generally, spicata is smaller than the
other species; and at Ottawa it is probably as common as any.
Individuals of canadensis vary from small shrubby trees to
well-developed, clean-trunked examples, which are the largest in
the genus. As a rule they are fairly well distinguished by foli-
age characters, as given in manuals, which need not be repeated
here. The size of the flowers (petals) in my specimens is in
most cases less than the measurements given in Gray’s Manual,
so that I have found them of little value as a distinguishing
feature. The remaining Amelanchier, botryapium, differs from
typical canadensis principally in its pubescent leaves; and both
are common at Ottawa. It is probable that these three are all
present throughout Old Ontario.
Of the other members of this genus occurring in Eastern
America, I have neither collected nor seen Ottawa specimens of
oligocarpa. It occurs only where it finds its required condi-
tions of cold wet swamps or woods. In the herbarium of the
Geological Survey at Ottawa there are specimens from Wing-
ham, in the north of Huron County, and from the Petawawa
River in Algonquin Park; the latter specimen being scarcely
typical as regards foliage. Beyond the evidence of these two
sheets, I can find nothing to indicate the distribution of the
species in Ontario.
The collections which I have had the privilege of examin-
ing, namely, those at the Geological Survey and of the Central
Experimental Farm, have yielded no Ontario specimens, which
I could place without doubt in the species oblongifolia. Some
so labelled had to be referred to spicata , and others to botrya-
pium. Some in the absence of young specimens could not be
safely identified. One from Toronto, and one also from Wing-
ham, may be correctly named and the species may well be
looked for, at any rate.
There remains to be merely mentioned another species, alni-
folia) which has been frequently referred to Eastern localities,
but is not so credited in the recent edition of Gray. In the
collections examined there are several specimens which would
GROH— AMELANCHIERS OR JUNEBERRIES.
55
seem to establish its occurrence in Ontario, but unfortunately
they are not sufficiently complete to be conclusive.
In concluding this brief summary of what I have been able
to learn about our Amelanchiers, I wish simply to emphasize,
what the account has aimed to point out, that here is a piece
of work in field botany which ought to make its appeal to some
of our naturalists. The points waiting to be cleared up can
only be satisfactorily dealt with after material from as many
localities as possible has been brought together. To be of the
greatest value such material should show both the young flow-
ering and the later fruiting conditions, since some of the most
essential foliage characters change materially in the course of
the season. Plants from which specimens are taken in the
spring should therefore be marked and numbered to preclude the
possibility of mistakes in the fall. Such specimens should be
supplemented by careful notes cf habit, environment, and other
information not preserved in the specimens.
These members of our sylvan flora, while of minor economic,
importance, fill a place of such prominence in the aesthetic fea-
tures of our surroundings that wTe can hardly afford to ignore
their claims to notice botanically while there is anything to
be learned.
The Compositae of Galt, Ont., and Vicinity.
BY W. HERBIOT.
THE Composites form the largest order of flowering plants,
numbering in the neighborhood of 12,000 species, of wide
geographic distribution, chiefly herbaceous, but occasion-
ally shrubby, or in a few tropical species, trees.
Many of our native species have gorgeous flowers, while the
adventive species from Europe are amongst our most pernicious
weeds. The flora of the Grand River valley around Galt is re-
markable, as shown by the great number of species of this order
which it contains, indicating a wonderful diversity of soil and
5'6
THE ONT. NAT. SC. BUbbETlN — NO. 6.
other conditions within a very limited area, for within a radius
of ten miles from town all of the 119 species mentioned below
were collected. As is usually the case with large orders of plants,
many of the genera of Composites give rise to a number of
variable species, and of these the Golden -rods and Asters are
amongst the most prominent, especially the latter, for I doubt
if any genus of plants is more difficult of segregation than
Aster, as several of the species, besides being extremely vari-
able, undoubtedly hybridize, producing a host of most perplex-
ing forms. In dealing with these genera, I mention only those
species that are well established, and omit nearly all varieties
which are of interest chiefly to the specialist.
Of the 11 9 species mentioned, 84 are indigenous, 28 are nat-
uralized from Europe, 1 from Asia, and 6 are migrants from
the Western prairie region.
Eupatorium purpureum , L,. (Joe-Pye Weed).— Common around
ponds and moist places generally. Yar. maculatum (L-)> Dari.
— Common with the type.
Eupatorium perfoliatum , L. (Boneset). — Common along
streams and in moist situations.
Eupatorium ur tic as folium, Reichard (White Snakeroot). — In
rich woods and ravines. Common.
Liatris cylindracea , Michx., (Blazing Star). — Dry open
woods. Rare.
Grindelia squarrosa (Pursh.) , Dunal (Gum-plant) .—A migrant
from the West lately appearing in fields, but not troublesome
as a weed. Infrequent.
Solidago squarrosa , Muhl. (Ragged Golden-rod) .—Dry woods
and ravines. Common.
Solidago cassia (D.) (Wreath Golden-rod) .—Rich woods and
ravines. Common.
Solidago latifolia, Iv. (Broad-leaved Golden-rod) . — Rich woods
and ravines. Common.
HERRIOT— COMPOSITE OF GART, ONTARIO.
57
Solidago bicolor (%.) (White Golden-rod). — Dry open woods
and clearings. Not common.
Solidago hispida (Muhl.) (Hairy Golden-rod). — Open woods,
fields and waysides. Common.
Solidago uliginosa , Nutt. (Bog Golden-rod) .—A beautiful spe-
cies, growing in sphagnum bogs and swamps. Frequent.
Solidago patula , Muhl. (Rough- leaved Golden-rod) .—Swamps
and bogs. Common.
Solidago juncea , Ait. (Karly Golden-rod);. — Our earliest flow-
ering species. Fields, roadsides and open places generally.
Nearly all our plants are referable to the variety Scabrella.
Solidago neglecta , T. & G. (Swamp Golden-rod). — Swamps
and bogs. Frequent.
Solidago uniligulata (D. C.) , Porter (Few-rayed Golden-rod) .
— Bogs and swamps. Frequent Intergrading with the last.
Solidago rugosa, Mill. (Wrinkle-leaved Golden-rod)— Swamps,
meadows and open moist places Common.
Solidago nemoralis , Ait. (Gray Golden rod) . — A beautiful
dwarf species, growing in dry fields and banks. Common.
Solidago Canadensis , L. (Canada Golden -rod). — An ex-
tremely variable species, found in its various forms in all situ-
ations. Our largest and most abundant species.
Solidago serotina, Ait. (Smooth - stemmed Golden - rod). —
Thickets and open moist .places. Common.
Solidago Ohioensis (Riddell) (Ohio Golden-rod). — A beauti-
ful flat-topped species, growing in marshes around ponds. At
two stations quite plentiful.
Solidago graminifolia (T-), Salisb. (Fragrant Golden-rod).—
The least conspicuous of our Golden -rods, growing in moist,
open situations. Common.
Aster divaricatus , R. (White Wood Aster). — Dry open woods.
Rare.
58
THE ONT. NAT. SC. BUbbETlN — NO. 6.
Aster macrophyllus (L-) (Large-leaved Aster). — An extreme-
ly variable species, growing in woods ;and clearings everywhere,
several forms having been separated by some authors as spe-
cies.
Aster novce anglice , Iy. (New England Aster). — Our latest
and most handsome species; growing in moist or dry, open
situations. Common.
Aster azureus , Iyindl. (Sky-blue Aster).. — Dry fields, waysides
and open woods. Common.
Aster cordifolius , L. (Common Blue Aster). — Dry woods,
fields and banks. Common.
Aster Lowrieanus , Porter (Lowrie’s Aster). — Woods and
thickets; closely allied to the last.
Aster sagettifolius , Wedemeyer (Arrow-leaved Aster)— All our
plants have the leaves more or less pilose beneath and the stem
often 5 ft. in height, and referable to the variety Urophyllus
(Iyindl.), Burgess. Infrequent.
Aster Lindleyanus , T. & G. (Iyindley’s Aster). — Thickets and
open places. Scarce.
Aster laevis , L. (Smooth Aster). — Our earliest flowering spe-
cies, growing on dry banks and fields. Handsome. Frequent.
Aster multidorus , Ait. (White Wreath Aster).— Dry, open fields
and banks. Tocally abundant.
Aster lateridorus (L.)i Britton (Starved Aster). — An, ex-
tremely variable species, growing in swamps and moist, open
places everywhere. Besides several extreme forms, apparent
hybrids with other species are found.
Aster Tradescanti, L. (Tradescant’s Aster). — Low grounds
and marshes, variable, and approaching in some of its forms
the next. An abundant species.
Aster paniculatus , Lam. (Tall Panicled Aster) .—Low grounds
and marshes. Common. Extremely variable and difficult to
determine from the preceding and two following species, into
which it appears to intergrade.
HERRIOT— COMPOSITE OF GALT, ONTARIO.
59
Aster junceus, Ait. (Rush-leaved Aster). —Bogs and marshes.
Common.
Aster longifolius , Earn. (Eong-leaved Aster). — Low grounds.
Not common. Variable.
Aster puniceus , E. (Purple-stem Aster). — Eow grounds and
wet open places. Common. A very variable but easily dis-
tinguished species.
Aster umbellatus , Mill. (Double-bristled Aster). — Moist open
places. Not common.
Aster ptarmicoides, T. & G. (Upland White Aster). — Dry,
open woods. Rather rare. A unique species.
Erigeron pulchellus , Michx. (Robin’s Plantain).— Open woods
and fields. Common.
Erigeron Philadelphicusy E. (Daisy Fleabane). — Open woods,
fields and meadows. Common.
Erigeron annuus (E-E,Pers- (Sweet Scabious). — Fields and
waysides. Often as a weed. Common.
Erigeron ramosus (Walt.), B. S. P. (Eesser Daisy Fleabane).
— Fields and open places. Common.
Erigeron Canadensis (E.) (Canada Fleabane). — Fields and
waste places. Abundant as a weed.
Antennaria fallaXy Greene (Larger Cat’s-foot). — Open woods
and copses. Frequent.
Antennaria neodioica , Greene (Smaller Cat’s-foot). — Open
woods, fields and hillsides. Common.
Antennaria neglecta , Greene (Field Cat’s-foot).— Growing with
the last. Common.
Antennaria petaloidea , Fernald (Tall Cat’s - foot). — Open
woods, fields and banks. Frequent.
Anaphalis margaritacea (E.)> B. & H. (Pearly Everlasting).
—Dry open woods, clearings and hillsides. Frequent.
6o
THE ONT. NAT. SC. BUbhETlN — NO. 6.
Gnaphalium polycephalum, (Michx. (Common Everlasting) . —
Open woods and fields. Common.
Gnaphalium decurrens, Ives (Clammy Everlasting). — Similar
situation as the last, but less common.
Gnaphalium uliginosum, F. (Fow Cudweed) . — Fields, road-
sides and moist ditches; often as a weed.
Inula Helenium, F. (Elecampane). — Roadsides and fields.
Frequent.
Polymnia Canadensis , L. (Feafcup). — Rich rocky woods and
ravines. Infrequent.
Silphium terebinthinaceum} Jacq. (Prairie Dock).— Found only
along the G. T. Railway at Blue Fake, between Galt and Paris.
Ambrosia trifda , F. (Great Ragweed). — In waste places
along the Grand River. Infrequent. Yar. integrifolia (Muhl.),
T. & G., occasional with the type.
Ambrosia artemisif olia , F. (Common Ragweed). — Abundant
as a weed by roadsides, fields and waste places everywhere.
Ambrosia psilostachya) D. C. (Western Ragweed). — Fately
appearing around the C.P.R. station. A migrant from the
West.
Xanthium Canadense) Mill. (Clo'tbur). — Moist places, espe-
cially along the river. Common.
Xanthium echinatum, Murr. (Hairy Clotbur). — Growing with
the preceding, but less common.
Heliopsis scabra , Dunal (Rough Ox-eye). — Moist places and
banks along the Grand River. Infrequent.
Rudbeckia hirta, F. (Black-eyed Susan). — Open woods, dry
fields and moist places. Common.
Rudbeckia laciniata , F- (Tall Coneflower).— Damp thickets
and river banks. Frequent.
Helianthus giganteusy F- (Giant Sunflower). — Dry or moist
places. Rare.
HBRRIOT— COMPOSITE OF GALT, ONTARIO. ,
61
Helianthus divaricatus , L. (Rough Sunflower) .—Open woods,
fields and dry exposed places. Common.
Helianthus strumosusy Iy. (Smooth Sunflower) — Open woods,
fields and banks. Common.
Helianthus decapetalus , Iy. (Thin-leaved Sunflower). — Rich,
open woods. Rare.
Helianthus tuberosus , L. (Jerusalem Artichoke). — Old fields
and waysides. Infrequent. A relic of cultivation by the
Indians.
Bidens frondosa , Iy. (Beggar’s Ticks).— Moist ditches, along
streams and in waste places. Common.
Bidens connata, Muhl. (Swamp Beggar’s Ticks.) — Common.
Swamps and along streams. Frequent.
Bidens cernua , Iy. (Stick- tight). — Wet places. Common
everywhere.
Bidens laevis (Iy.), B. S. P. (Bur Marigold). — Wet places,
especially along streams. Common.
Helenium autumnale) Iy. (Sneezeweed) . — Alluvial soil along
the Grand River. Rare.
Gaillardia aristata) Pursh. (Great - flowered Gaill,ardia) . —
Fields and roadsides. A migrant from the West. Scarce.
Achillea millefolium , Iy- (Common Yarrow). — Fields, road-
sides and open places everywhere. The crimson-flowered form
somewhat rare.
Anthemis cotula , L. (Mayweed). — A weed by roadsides and
waste places everywhere.
Anthemis arvensis , L. (Corn Chamomile). — Tately appearing
in fields. Infrequent.
Matricaria inodor a, Iy. (Wild Chamomile). — Roadsides. Rare.
Chrysanthemum Leucanthemum , Iy. (Ox-eye Daisy). — Fields
and waste places. Common.
62
THE ONT. NAT. SC. BULLETIN — NO. -6.
Chrysanthemum Balsamita, E (Costmary). — Roadsides and
old gardens. Escaped from cultivation.
Tanacetum vulgare, E. (Tansy) .—Escaped from gardens to
roadsides and waste places.
Artemisia caudata , Michx. (Wild Wormwood). — A few plants
found along the Grand River in 1895. Eikely an import from
the West.
Artemisia vulgaris , E. (Common Mugwort). — Roadsides and
waste places. Occasional.
Artemisia biennis , Willd. (Biennial Wormwood,)— Waste places
and along railways; becoming frequent. A migrant from the
West.
Artemisia frigida , Willd. (Wormwood Sage). — An occasional
plant found along the C. P. Railway. A native of the far
West.
Petasites palmata (Ait.), Gray (Palmate-leaved Sweet Colts-
foot).— Eow woods and cedar swamps. Rare.
Erectites hieracefolia (E.), R&f. (Fireweed). — Woods and
clearings, especially on burned-over ground. Frequent.
Senecio vulgaris , E- (Common Groundsel). — A weed in gar-
dens and waste ground. Frequent.
Senecio aureus , E. (Golden Ragwort) — Under its many forms
found growing in moist places and swamps throughout our
area.
Arctium Lappa , E- (Burdock). — Waste places and cultivated
ground. Common.
Cirsium lanceolatum (E-), Hill (Bull Thistle). — Roadsides
and fields everywhere. Common.
Cirsium discolor (Muhl.), Spreng. (Field Thistle). — Open
woods and fields. Frequent.
Cirsium muticum , Michx. (Swamp Thistle) — Eow woods and
swamps. Frequent.
HERRIOT— COMPOSITE OF GAI/T, ONTARIO.
63
Cirsium arvense (R.), Scop. (Canada Thistle). — A pernicious
weed in fields and cultivated ground. Common.
Onopordum Acanthium, R. (Scotch Thistle). — Roadsides,
fields and waste places. Frequent.
Centaurea Cyanus , R. (Bluebottle). — Occasional in culti-
vated fields, but not persistent.
Centaurea nigra, R. (Knapweed). — Along railways and in
waste places. Infrequent.
Centaurea Jacea , R. (Rayed Knapweed). — Fields. Rare.
Lapsana communis , R. (Nipplewort). — Waste places and
banks along the Grand River. Frequent.
Cichorium Intybus , R. (Chicory). — Roadsides and fields; espe-
cially common on flats along the Grand River.
Leontodon hispidus , R. (Hairy Fall Dandelion). — Abundant
in a moist meadow south of the Galt Waterworks, where it
was first noticed about 25 years ago; then quite plentiful, and
has since spread to roadsides and other places.
Tragopogon porrif olius, R. (Vegetable Oyster). — Kscaped
from cultivation along the railway lines. Frequent.
Tragopogon pratensis , R. (Goat’s Beard) . — Found in a rocky
field, the only station.
Taraxacum officinale , Weber. (Dandelion)— Abundant infields,
roadsides and cultivated ground.
Taraxacum erythrospermum , Andry. (Red-seeded Dandelion).
— Growing with the preceding, but less common.
Sonchus arvensis , R. (Field Sow Thistle). — Fields and waste
places. Infrequent.
Sonchus oleraceus , R. (Common Sow Thistle). — Waste places
and cultivated soil and around dwellings.
Sonchus asper (R.), Hill (Spiny-leaved Sow Thistle)— Waste
places and cultivated soil, sometimes in woods.
64
THE ONT. NAT. SC. BULLETIN — NO. 6.
Lactuca Scariola , I,., var. integrata, Greene & Godr. (Prick-
ly Lettuce). — Waste places, fields and along railway lines. Com-
mon.
Lactuca Canadensis , L. (Wild Lettuce). — Open woods, copses
and clearings. Common.
Lactuca hirsuta , Muhl. (Red Wood Lettuce). — Dry, open
woods and clearings. Frequent.
Lactuca spicata (Lam.), Hitchc. (Tall Blue Lettuce). — Moist
and dry woods and clearings. Common.
Crepis capillaris (L-), Wallr. (Smooth Hawksbeard) — A weed
in cultivated fields. Rare.
Prenanthes alba , L. (Rattlesnake-root). — Rich woods and
ravines. Common.
Prenanthes altissimus , L. (Tall White Lettuce). — Woods,
thickets and clearings. Common.
Hieracium aurantiacum , L- (Orange Hawkweed). — Fields and
pastures. Rare.
Hieracium scabrum , Michx. (Rough Hawkweed). — Dry, open
woods and clearings. Frequent.
Hieracium Gronoyii , L. (Hairy Hawkweed). — Open sandy
woods. Infrequent.
Hieracium Can adense, Michx. (Canada Hawkweed). — Open
woods, clearings and copse land. Frequent.
Galt, Ont., Jan. 15th, 1910.
WHITE— CRUCIFERS OF COUNTY PEER.
65
Cruciferae of County Peel
BY J. WHITE, SNELGROVE, ONT.
THE nomenclature used in the following list is that of
Gray’s Manual, Edition VII.
Alyssum alyssoides, R. Rare.
Arabis Canadensis, R. Rare.
Arabis hirsuta (R.), Scop. Rare.
Barbarea stricta, Andrz. Frequent.
Brassica alba (R.), Boiss. Rare.
Brassica arvensis (E.), Kotze. Common.
Cakile edentula (Bigel.), Hook. Not common.
Camelina sativa, Crantz. Common.
Capsella Bursa-pastoris (R.), Medic. Abundant.
Cardamine bulbosa (Schreb.), B.S.P. Rare.
Cardamine Douglasii (Torr.), Britton. Frequent.
Cardamine Pennsylvania, Muhl. Common.
Conringia orientalis (R.), Dumort. Frequent.
Dentaria diphylla, R. Common.
Dentaria laciniata, Muhl. Frequent.
Erysimum cheiranthoides, R. Common.
Hesperis matronalis, R. Occasional.
Repidium apetalum, Willd. Common.
Repidium campestre (R.), R. Br. Occasional.
Repidium sativum. Rare.
Neslia paniculata (R.), Desv. Frequent.
Radicula Armoracia (R. ) , Robinson. Rare.
Radicula Nasturtium-aquaticum (R.), Britten & Rendle.
Common.
Radicula palustris (R-), Moench. Common.
Radicula palustris (R.), Moench, var. hispida (Desv.),
Robinson. Rare.
Sisymbrium altissimum, R. Frequent.
Sisymbrium officinale (R,), Scop. Common.
Thlaspi arvense, R. Frequent.
66
THE ONT. NAT. SC. BULLETIN — NO. 6.
Plant Immigrants of 1909.
BY F. MITCHELL.
NOT a season passes but we find that one or more species
of plants have migrated from other lands or other places
to locate with us.
I noticed as new arrivals the past season in this district :
Kruca sativa, in quantity in fields of alfalfa seeded in the
spring. The plants, which were cut off with the grain at har-
vest time, bloomed and seeded again throughout the fall.
Silene dichotoma, in a field of red clover in considerable
quantity.
Conringia orientalis, one plant in a village lot.
Anthyllis vulneraria, scattered sparingly throughout a field
of red clover. This plant is not listed in Britton and Brown,
or Grey or other botanies in common use here, although it is
fully described in British and other lists, even of rather remote
time. Pliny, among others, makes special mention of the An-
thyllis. It is a legume, of noticeable appearance, and I would
assume would never become a troublesome weed.
Innerkip, Jan. 24th, 1910.
Notes and Observations.
MORCHELLA BISPORA IN CANADA.
Morchella bispora is a very common fungus on the Bruce
Peninsula, Ontario. It grows abundantly in damp woods, ap-
pearing in May, and lasting till early in June. Some of the
sporophores attain a very large size. As an edible species it
ranks high, as it is tender and of excellent flavor.
Dr. Dearness informs me that this species lias not been
previously recorded from Canada. ^ j^lUGH
Botanical Department, Queen’s University,
Kingston, Ontario.
NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 67
AN INTRODUCED CAREX NEW TO CANADA.
On July 3rd, 1909, beside the steps leading to the north door
of the old Arts Building, Queen’s University, I found a patch
of Carex muricata, B. This is, I believe, the first time that this
European species has been recorded from Canada.
Botanical Department, A. B. KLTJGH.
Queen’s University,
Kingston, Ontario.
PINEAPPLE WEED
( Matricaria suaveolens (Pursh) Buchenau).
Although a native of the Pacific slope, this plant has re-
cently become established in the vicinity of Guelph, and is now
of very common occurrence, especially in the neighborhood of
the O. A. College. Its insignificant appearance and close re-
semblance to Anthemis cotula, B- — from which it is readily dis-
tinguished by its rayless heads — are probably responsible for the
fact that it had not been noticed prior to last year. A. E.
LINARIA MINOR (L.) , Desf.
It is now some years since this small European species was
first noticed in Ontario. Although still apparently confined
to railway tracks, it appears to be spreading rapidly through-
out Ontario, as during the past summer it was noticed in a
number of new localities, especially east of Toronto. Around
Guelph it is now quite common, especially on the G.T.R. track
between Guelph and Hespeler. A. E.
SPURRED GENTIAN
( Halenia deflexa (Sm.), Griseb).
Although this plant is not new to Wellington County, yet
it is very rare in the vicinity of Guelph, and it was consequent-
ly a source of much pleasure to Mr. Howitt and the writer to
find it growing in a damp, shady spot along the G.T.R. track,
just outside Hespeler. Only a few specimens of this curious
and interesting species were, however, discovered. A. E.
68
THE ONT. NAT. SC. BULLETIN — NO. 6.
Publications Received.
BIRD LORE : Vol. XI., Nos. 3, 4, 5, 6 ; Vol. XII., No. 1.
While the reading matter of this magazine is decidedly in-
teresting, it is the great excellence and usefulness of its illus-
trations < which render it most attractive to the ornithologist.
In each number there are not only numerous photographs of
birds in their natural haunts, but colored plates of high excel-
lence— probably the finest plates of North American birds which
have ever appeared. With Vol. XI., No. 6, begin the plates of
sparrows, which series will undoubtedly prove highly useful to
bird students, in aiding them to recognize the various species
of this difficult group. The Christmas bird-census in Vol. XII.,
No. i, gives a good index as to the status of bird-life in North
America this year, and shows that during this winter northern
migrants and winter residents have been rare. A. B. K.
WIIvSON BUBEETIN : Vol. XXI., Nos. i, 2, 3, 4.
This excellent quarterly is of interest to Ontario ornithol-
ogists, because in it appear most of the contributions from the
Great Bakes Ornithological Club, which organization has made
Point Pelee, Ontario, its first territory for a complete ornitho-
logical survey.
In this volume the editor, Prof. Bynds Jones, begins his
notes on “The Birds of Cedar Point.’’ This point is just across
Bake Erie from Point Pelee, and this fact renders these notes
of great interest to Ontario bird-students. A. B. K.
JOURNAB OF THE MAINE ORNITHOBOGICAB SOCIETY :
Vol. XI., Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4.
This quarterly of the Maine bird-students is always improv-
ing in quality, and the increasing number of short notes from
various observers shows the widespread interest in bird study
which it is creating in its State.
It is with the deepest regret that we record the death on
September 6th, 1909, of Mr. W. H. Brownson, the talented and
cordial editor of the Journal. A. B. K.
PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED.
69
RHODORA : Vol. II, Nos. 122-132 ; Yol. 12, No. 133.
Rhodora is a magazine which is of inestimable value to all
botanists who reside within the range of Gray’s Manual, for in
it appear nearly all the systematic revisions of the families
and genera within that area.
Many articles and notes of much ecological and distribu-
tional value are also published in this journal; among those in
these numbers being : — “ The Habitat of Rhodora ,” by D. P.
Penhallow; “ Corylus rostrata and C. Americana ,” by K. M.
Wdegand; “On the Flora of Lower Cape Cod,” by F. S. Col-
lins, and 1 “Submarine Bog at Woods’ Hole,” by H. H. Bartlett.
A. B. K.
THE FERN BULLETIN : Vol. XVII., Nos. 1-4.
This excellent Quarterly, which, by the way, is the only
journal in North America devoted exclusively to Pteridophyta ,
still maintains its high standard. The success of this publica-
tion is very largely due to the untiring energy of its able edi-
tor/Mr. Willard N. Clute. Its articles and shorter notes are
of the greatest interest to fern students; among the former ap-
pearing in this volume being : — “ Ophioglossum vulgatum in On-
tario,” by F. J. A. Morris ; “Notes on Nephrodium Hybrids,”
by E. J. Winslow ; “ Polystichum acrostichoides multifida , ” by W.
N. Clute, and “Collecting in the Everglades,” by C. T. Simp-
son. A. B. K.
Wellington Field Naturalists’ Club.
During the past year, as in previous years, the regular fort-
nightly meetings of the Field Naturalists’ Club have been held.
This year, however, it was thought advisable to hold the meet-
ings in the Carnegie Library Hall, Guelph, this being more
convenient for the city members of the Club. The meetings
were very successful, all the papers being of a most interesting
70
THE ONT. NAT. SC. BULLETIN — NO. 6.
character and much appreciated by the attending members. The
following is a list of the papers read during the past year :
1909
Nov. 3 Notes on the Natural History
of Southern India.... Mr. G. J. Spencer
Mars Mr. Scrimiegour
Nov. 17 Fertilization of Orchids Mr. J. D. Tothill
The Evolution of the Chrysan-
themum Mr. Hunt
1910
Jan. 26 Game Birds of Ontario Mr. R. Fraser
Wild Flowers of Saskatchewan.. Mr. S. J. Neville
Feb. 10 A Naturalist’s Meal Mr. A. C. Baker
External Parasites Mr. A. W. Baker
Feb. 24 The Balance of Nature Mr. T. D. Jarvis
Mar. 10 Observations in Halton County. Mr. C. A. Galbraith
Mar. 24 Ferns and Their Haunts Mr. J. E. Howitt
April 7 Comets Mr. Asbury
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