3a. Spathes terminal, sessile --4.

3b. Spathes long-peduncled, axillary --8.

4a. Spathe single --5.

4b. Spathes 2 on each flowering stem --7.

5a. Pedicels much longer than the inner (shorter) bract =Blue-eyed Gra.s.s, Sisyrinchium mucronatum.=

5b. Pedicels equaling or barely exceeding the inner bract --6.

6a. Capsule brown; common species =Blue-eyed Gra.s.s, Sisyrinchium angustifolium.=

6b. Capsule green or yellowish; rare species =Blue-eyed Gra.s.s, Sisyrinchium montanum.=

7a. Leaves folded lengthwise; stems narrowly winged =Blue-eyed Gra.s.s, Sisyrinchium hastile.=

7b. Leaves flat; stem broadly winged, 2-3 mm. wide =Blue-eyed Gra.s.s, Sisyrinchium albidum.=

8a. Capsules pale straw-color or whitish --9.

8b. Capsules brown, or tinged with purple --10.

9a. Plant with straight fibrous bristles at base; pedicels long-exserted =Blue-eyed Gra.s.s, Sisyrinchium farwellii.=

9b. Plants not bristly at base; pedicels barely exserted =Blue-eyed Gra.s.s, Sisyrinchium strictum.=

10a. Pedicels scarcely exceeding the inner bract --6a.

10b. Pedicels much exceeding the inner bract --11.

11a. Stem 2-6 mm. wide; bracts 1.5-2 cm. long =Blue-eyed Gra.s.s, Sisyrinchium gramineum.=

11b. Stem 1-2 mm. wide; bracts 1-1.5 cm. long =Blue-eyed Gra.s.s, Sisyrinchium apiculatum.=

ORCHIDACEAE, the Orchis Family

Herbs, with irregular flowers, one petal, the lip, differing from the others in size and shape, inferior ovary, and one or two stamens adherent to the style.

1a. Flowers in a spike-like obviously twisted raceme; small, yellowish or greenish-white, in late summer and autumn (except 4a) (Ladies'

Tresses) --2.

1b. Flowers solitary or in cl.u.s.ters, but never in a twisted raceme --5.

2a. Flowers in 1 row =Ladies' Tresses, Spiranthes gracilis.=

2b. Flowers in several rows --3.

3a. Lip constricted near the apex =Ladies' Tresses, Spiranthes romanzoftiana.=

3b. Lip not constricted --4.

4a. Lip yellow; flowers in spring and early summer =Ladies' Tresses, Spiranthes lucida.=

4b. Lip white =Ladies' Tresses, Spiranthes cernua.=

5a. Brown, purple, or yellow plants, without green color, with scale-like leaves (1-4 dm. high; summer) (Coral Root) --6.

5b. Plants with normal green color --9.

6a. Lip white, not spotted =Coral Root, Corallorrhiza trifida.=

6b. Lip white, spotted with red --7.

7a. Lip distinctly 3-lobed =Coral Root, Corallorrhiza maculata.=

7b. Lip entire, or barely toothed --8.

8a. Flower, exclusive of ovary, 4 mm. long =Coral Root, Corallorrhiza odontorhiza.=

8b. Flower about 10 mm. long. =Coral Root, Corallorrhiza striata.=

9a. Leaf 1 or none at flowering time --10.

9b. Leaves a single pair, basal, or opposite on the stem; never alternate on the stem --19.

9c. Leaves several, all basal, prominently net-veined, and frequently blotched with white (scape 1-4 dm. high; flowers whitish, p.u.b.escent, in summer) (Rattlesnake Plantain) --26.

9d. Leaves 2 or more, on the stem --28.

10a. Foliage leaf absent or undeveloped at flowering time, or merely persisting through the winter from the previous year --11.

10b. Foliage leaf present at flowering time --12.

11a. Flower rose-purple, 3-5 cm. long, solitary or two (1-3 dm. high, early summer) =Arethusa, Arethusa bulbosa.=

11b. Flowers purplish-green, in racemes, with a spur 2 cm. long =Crane-fly Orchis, Tipularia discolor.=

11c. Flowers yellowish, purple tinged, in racemes; spur none (3-4 dm.

high, early summer). =Putty Root, Aplectrum hyemale.=

12a. Leaf linear or linear-lanceolate --13.

12b. Leaf of a broader shape --14.