CALYPSO.
Calypso borealis, Salisb. Orchis Family.
Bulb.—Small; solid. Stem.—Three to six inches high. Leaf.—An inch or two long. Sepals and petals light to deep rose-color; six to nine lines long. Lip.—Brownish pink, mottled with purple. Style.—Petaloid, oval, and concave, bearing the hemispherical anther on its summit underneath. Hab.—The northern Coast Ranges; also across the continent.
It has never been my good fortune to find this rare and exquisite little orchid, but beautiful specimens have been sent from the redwoods of Sonoma County and from Oregon. The books speak of it as growing in bogs; but I am told by those who gathered them that the little plants sit lightly upon the layer of needles that carpet the forest-floor. The roots scarcely penetrate the soil, so that the plants are easily disengaged without digging.
Nature produced a perfect work when she fashioned this little plant, so simple, so charming in every way, with its one dainty leaf and one unique blossom. The form of the column is peculiarly interesting, being that of a curving concave petal, bearing the anther, in the shape of a hollow hemisphere, on its upper edge.
![[CALYPSO—Calypso borealis.]](#3624944100741987669_f073.png.id-1012514844779410100.wrap-0.html.html){kind=link}