55 



ORCHIDACEAE. 



VOL. I. 



5. Cypripedium parviflorum Salisb. 



Yellow or Downy Ladies'-slipper. 



Fig. 1358. 



C. parviflorum Salisb. Trans. Linn. Soc. i : 77. 



1791. 

 C. pubescens Willd. Sp. PI. 4: 143. 1805. 



Stems leaf.y, I-2J high. Leaves oval or 

 elliptic, 2 r -6' long, ii'-3' wide, acute or acumi- 

 nate; sepals ovate-lanceolate, usually longer 

 than the lip, yellowish or greenish, striped with 

 purple; petals narrower, usually twisted; lip 

 much inflated, 8"-2' long, pale yellow with pur- 

 ple lines; its interior with a tuft of white joint- 

 ed hairs at the top; sterile stamen triangular; 

 stigma thick, somewhat triangular, incurved. 



In woods and thickets, Nova Scotia to Ontario 

 and Minnesota, Alabama and Nebraska. Ascends 

 to 4000 ft. in Virginia. Consists of several races, 

 differing mainly in the size of the flowers. Whip- 

 poor-will's shoe. Yellows. Slipper-root. Indian 

 shoe. Yellow moccasin-flower. Noah's-ark. Ducks. 

 American valerian. May-July. 



2. FISSIPES Small, Fl. SE. U. S. 311. 

 1903. 



Acaulescent herbs, with fleshy-fibrous roots 

 and glandular-pubescent foliage. Leaves 2, 

 basal ; blades ample, plaited, spreading. Scape simple. Flower usually solitary. Perianth 

 irregular. Sepals greenish, narrowed upward. Lateral petals about as long as the sepals, 

 linear, greenish. Lip a large drooping inflated sac with a closed fissure down its whole 

 length in front. Column declined, glandular-pubescent, bearing a sessile anther on each 

 side, and a rhomboidal glandular-pubescent sterile stamen above. Stamens spreading, the 

 free tips at right angles to the column. Pollen granular, without glands or tails. Stigma 

 broadest at the apex. Capsule ascending. [Latin, in allusion to the cleft lip.] 

 A monotypic genus of eastern North America. 



i. Fissipes acaulis (Ait.) Small. Moc- 

 casin Flower. Stemless Ladies'- 

 slipper. Fig. 1359. 



Cypripedium acaule Ait. Hort. Kew. 3: 303. 1789. 

 Fissipes acaulis Small, Fl. SE. U. S. 311. 1903. 



Scape 6'-i$' high, rather stout. Leaves 2, basal, 

 elliptic, 6'-8' long, 2'-$' wide, thick; occasionally a 

 smaller leaf is borne on the scape; sepals greenish 

 purple, spreading, ii'-2 r long, lanceolate, the 2 lateral 

 ones united ; petals narrower and somewhat longer 

 than the sepals ; lip often over 2' long, somewhat obo- 

 void, folded inwardly above, pink with darker veins 

 or sometimes white, the upper part of its interior sur- 

 face crested with long white hairs ; sterile stamen 

 triangular, acuminate, keeled inside. 



In sandy or rocky woods, Newfoundland to Manitoba, 

 south to North Carolina, Tennessee and Minnesota. As- 

 cends to 4500 ft. in Virginia. The hairs on the lower 

 part of the bract and on the base of the ovary are often 

 tipped with scarlet glands. Flower fragrant. Pink or 

 purple ladies'-slipper. Nerve-root. Noah's-ark. Camel's- 

 foot. Squirrel's-shoes. Two-lips. Indian-moccasin. Old- 

 goose. May-June. 



3. ORCHIS [Tourn.] L. Sp. PI. 939. 1753. 



Roots tuberous, or of numerous fleshy fibres; stems in our species scape-like, i-leaved 

 at the base. Flowers in short terminal spikes. Sepals separate, subequal, spreading. Petals 

 similar, to the sepals. Lip connate with the base of the column, 3-lobed, produced below into 

 a spur. Column short, scarcely extending beyond the base of the lip. Anther 2-celled, the 

 sacs contiguous and slightly divergent ; pollinia granulose, i large mass in each sac, produced 

 into a slender caudicle, the end of which is attached to a small gland. Stigma a hollowed 

 surface between the anther-sacs, the rostellum a knob-like projection under the anther. 

 Glands enclosed in a pouch. Capsule oblong, erect, without a beak. [Name ancient] 



