51 C ORCHIDACE^. (orchis FAMILY.) 



barely Y broad and not so long ; the middle lobe broadest and more closely 

 fringed, but not so deeply cleft as the lateral ones. 



17. H. fimbriata, R. Br. Lower leaves oval or oblong, the upper few, 

 passing into lanceolate bracts ; spike or raceme oblong, looselij -flowered ; lower 

 sepals ovate, acute; petals oblong, toothed down the sides: divisions of the pen- 

 dent large lip (|-1' broad) fan-shaped, more fringed. — Wet meadows, N. 

 Scotia to N. J. and N. C, west to Mich. June. — Flowers fewer (lilacrpurple). 

 3 or 4 times larger than those of the preceding. 



18. H. peramCEna, Gray. Lower leaves oblong-ovate, the upper lanceo- 

 late; spike oblong or cylindrical, densely flowered ; lower sepals round-ovate ^ 

 petals rounded-obovate, raised on a claw; divisions of the large lip very broadly 

 wedge-shaped, irregularly eroded-toothed at the broadly dilated summit, the lat- 

 eral ones truncate, the middle one 2-lobed. — Moist meadows and banks, Penn. 

 and N. J. to 111., and south in the mountains. Aug. — Flowers large and 

 showy (violet-purple); the lip paler and 8-10" long, variably toothed, but 

 not fringed. 



17. CYPRIPEDIUM, L. Lady's Slipper. Moccasox-flower. 



Sepals spreading ; all three distinct, or in most cases two of them united 

 into one under the lip. Petals spreading, resembling the sepals but usually 

 narrower. Lip a large inflated sac. Column declined ; on each side a fertile 

 stamen, Avith its short filament bearing a 2-celled anther ; the pollen loose and 

 pulpy or powdery -granular ; on the upper side a dilated -triangular, petal-like 

 but thickish body, which answers to the fertile stamen of other Orchids, and 

 covers the summit of the style ; stigma terminal, broad, obscurely 3-lobed, 

 moist and roughish (not smooth and viscid as in the rest of the order). Pollen 

 in most of our species, especially in n. 6, exposed by the conversion of the face 

 of the anther into a viscid, varnish-like film, which adheres to whatever touches 

 it, carrying away some of the pollen. — Root of many tufted fibres. Leaves 

 large, many-nerved and plaited, sheathing at tfie base. Flowers solitary or 

 few, large and showy. (Name composed of Kvirpis, Venus, and iroSioy, a sock 

 or buskin, i. e. Venus^s Slipper.) 



§ 1. The three sepals separate; stem leafy ; flower solitary, drooping. 



1. C. arietinum, R. Br. (RamVhead L.) Stem slender (6-10' high); 

 upper sepal ovate-lanceolate, pointed : the 2 lower and the petals linear and 

 nearly alike (greenish-brown), rather longer than the red and whitish veiny 

 lip (6" long), which is somewhat pubescent, especially within, and prolonged 

 at the apex into a short blunt conical point ; leaves 3 or 4, elliptical-lanceolate, 

 nearly smooth. — Cold swamps and damp woods, Maine to N. Y., Mich, and 

 Minn., and northward. 



§ 2. Two of the sepals united into one under the lip. 

 * Stem leafy to the top, 1 -3-flowered ; lip slipper-shaped or roundish, much in- 

 flated, horizontal, and with a rounded open orifice. 

 H- Sepals and linear ivavy-twisted petals brownish, pointed, longer than the tip. 



2. C. candidum, Muhl. (Small White Lady's Slipper.) Slightly 

 pubescent, l-flowered ; leaves lance-oblong, acute ; petals and sepals greenish, 

 purple-spotted; sepals ovate-lanceolate; lip (not 1' long) ivhite, striped with 



