=Flowers=, many in slender raceme. =Labellum= slightly ciliate, oblong, broadest at the auricled base, cleft ¼-⅓ its length. =Sepals= lanceolate; =petals= oblong-linear, longer than the ovary, spreading, obtuse. =Stem= 4-7 inches high, slender. =Leaves= large, oval, or elliptic-ovate, borne above the middle of the stem. _Continental Range_—From Quebec, southward to Maine and New Hampshire. _New England Range_—Maine, rare; New Hampshire, rare. 3.—LISTERA CORDATA (Linnæus) R. Brown, 1753-1813. HEART-LEAVED TWAYBLADE The specific name, _cordata_, refers to the cordate or heart-shaped leaves. Small, moist woodland orchid, with fibrous roots. June 27th-July 30th-August 8th. =Flowers= minute, purplish, in a loose raceme, ½-2 inches long, 4-20 flowered, pedicels bracted, ⅙ inch long. =Labellum= 2-cleft, narrow, with a tooth on each side at the base. =Sepals= and =petals= oblong-linear. =Stem= slender, 3-10 inches high. =Leaves= 2, heart-shaped, or cordate ½-1 inch long. _Continental Range_—From Alaska, southward to Sierra Nevada Mountains in the Pacific region; and New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, in the Atlantic region. It appears to be more of a northern plant than _L. convallarioides_. _New England Range_—Maine, common; New Hampshire, common; Vermont, common; Massachusetts, infrequent; Rhode Island, rare; Connecticut, rare. VIII Peramium Salisbury, 1812 (Goodyera R. Brown, 1813) RATTLESNAKE PLANTAIN The origin of the generic name, _Peramium_, is not given in the original description. It may come from _Ammon_, _Amen_, the Egyptian Sun-God of Life, since to the blotched leaves of this genus the Indians attribute great powers, as a remedy against the deadly amniotic poison received from the rattlesnake’s bite. Orchids with erect bracted scapes, and fleshy-fibrous roots. =Anther= 1. =Labellum= concave, or sessile roundish-ovate. Lower =sepals= free, upper one united with petals into a galea. =Flowers= in densely-flowered, or 1-sided bracted spikes. =Anther= erect, attached to column, without a lid. =Pollinia= 2, 1 in each anther-sac, composed of angular grains attached to small disk, cohering with top of stigma. =Stems= or =scapes= bracted, 5-20 inches high. =Leaves= several, basal, blotched, with beautiful network of white, green or yellow, resembling a snake’s skin. =Seed-capsule= erect, nearly always maturing. =Seedlings= abundant in _conifer_ shades. _Continental Range_—From Alaska, southward to Florida; westward to Minnesota and California. There are 25 or more species of this genus ranging in the temperate and tropical regions of the world. North American species north of Mexico 5 New England species 4 Hoosac Valley species 3-4 New England species: 1. _P. repens_ (Linnæus) Salisbury, 1753-1812. 2. _P. pubescens_ (Willdenow) MacMillan, 1805-1892. 3. _P. Menziesii_ (Lindley) Morong, 1840-1894. 4. _P. ophioides_ (Fernald) Rydberg, 1899-1901.