146 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 



Stances associated with the nymph and gt)ddesses with which 

 the primitive imagination peopled such places. Calypso and 

 Aretlmsa, therefore, one a goddess and the other a nymph, 

 if there is any difference, are remembred by the botanist, if 

 not by the religiously minded, by two handsome species from 

 the boggy wastes. The genus Scrapias is also named for a 

 deity, but this time it is one of the Egyptian gods. 



The genus Cypripcdiiun comes from two Greek words 

 Kypris an ancient name for Venus and pcdilon meaning shoe. 

 Owing to the form of the second word, some writers would 

 spell the genus Cypripcdihmi. The name, of course, refers 

 to the inflated petal forming the lower lip of the flower, in 

 which some have fancied a resemblance to the sock or buskin 

 of ancient days. 



Serveal other generic names in this family have been 

 given for some salient feature in the flower or its parts. 

 Among them is Hahenaria the generic name of the fringed 

 orchises which is derived from Jiabcrna meaning a thong or 

 rein and referring either to the shape of the lip or spur in 

 the original species. Microstylis is simply "small style" and 

 Aplcctruin, by which the putty-root is known, means "with- 

 out a spur," this being a distinction of some consequence in 

 a family which is almost invariably spurred. Corallorrhiaa 

 signifies coral-root and Tipularia was given in allusion to a 

 fancied resemblance between the blossoms and the crane-fly 

 {Tipida). Hexalcctris, according to Gray, comes from two 

 Greek words meaning six and a cock, but Britton says it 

 means six-crested. In any event it refers to the crested lip 

 of the original species. Malaxis, an obscure name for an 

 obscure species (it is found in only one place in America) 

 seems to refer to the tender nature of the plant and means 

 "a softening." Liparis means fat or shining in allusion to 

 the smooth leaves. 



