Arethusa

ar-e-thu'sa, in Grecian mythology, a beautiful nymph. A river god of the Olympian region became enamored of her, and she prayed to Diana, who opened a subterranean passage for her under the sea to Ortygia, Sicily, whither, however, the river god pursued her. The basis for the legend is the fact that the river Alpheus passes underground repeatedly, and reappears again in the limestone rocks of Arcadia. A beautiful fountain gushes forth in Sicily. The imagination of the Greeks supplied the rest of the story. The name of this sea nymph has been bestowed upon one of our most beautiful flowers. It is found in swamps from Newfoundland to Minnesota and southward to the mountains of North Carolina.

Our Arethusa is one of the prettiest of the orchids, and has been pursued through many a marsh and quaking bog by her lovers. She is a bright pink-purple flower an inch or more long, with the odor of sweet violets. The sepals and petals rise up and arch over the column, which we may call the heart of the flower, as if shielding it.--Burroughs, Riverby.