Fringed Green Orchid.Habenaria lacera.Ragged Orchis.
Found, during July and August, on moist banks, and beside running water.
The round smooth stalk grows to be 8 or 12 inches high; it is nearly white at the foot, gaining to a dull, but pale, green near the flowers.
The few leaves are lance-shaped, large near the ground and lessening to a mere sheath above, of a tough texture, and smooth surface. They are alternately placed, and clasp the stalk with a marked fold on the midrib. The color is a faded yellow-green.
The lip of the small flower is fan-shaped, with a very narrow base, 3-cleft, and spreading; the other petals are erect and fringy; the spur is long and curved; the calyx is small, the side-parts flaring, the third part erect behind the petals; it is colored a pale yellow-green. The foot-stem is slightly twisted, as long as the spur, and pale. The blossoms are placed alternately, rising from the angles of small enfolding leaves (bracts), in a scattering terminal spike.
There is a monotony of hue about this plant, and a general dinginess of aspect, that render it rather uninteresting; the lip more nearly approaches clarity of tone than any other part of the flower.