ORCHID FAMILY. 459 
6. Cypripedium parvifl6rum Salisb. 
Small Yellow Ladies’ Slipper. 
(Fig. 1093.) 
Cypripedium parvifiorum Salisb, Trans. Linn. 
Soc. 1:77. 1791. 
Stems 1°-2° high, slender, leafy. Leaves 
oval, elliptic or lanceolate, 2’-6’ long, 1/-21/’ 
wide; sepals and petals longer than the lip; 
petals usually twisted; lip 7’/-15’’ long, 
bright yellow, more or less marked with pur- 
ple stripes, spots or blotches; sterile stamen 
triangular, yellow and purple spotted like 
the lip. 
In woods and thickets, Newfoundland to 
British Columbia and Washington, south along 
the mountains to Georgia, and to Missouri. As- 
cends to 4ooo ft. in Virginia. Similar to the 
preceding species, with which it appears to in- 
tergrade, or of which it may be but a form, but 
usually distinguished by the smaller size and 
brighter yellow color of the lip. Sepals and 
petals sometimes purple. May-July. 
2. ORCHIS L. Sp. Pl. 939. 1753. 
Roots of numerous fleshy fibres, stems in our species scape-like, 1-2-leaved at the base. 
Flowers in short terminal spikes. Sepals separate, subequal, spreading or connivent. Petals 
similar to the sepals. Lip connate with the base of the column, 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, 1 large mass in each sac, pro- 
duced into a slender caudicle, the end of which is attached to a small gland. Stigma a hol- 
lowed surface between the anther-sacs, the rostellum a knob-like projection under the an- 
ther. Glands enclosed in a pouch. Capsule oblong, erect, without a beak. [Name 
ancient. ] 
About 80 species, natives of the north temperate zone. Only the following are known in 
North America. 
Plant 2-leaved at the base. 1. O. spectabilis. 
Plant 1-leaved at the base. 2. O. rotundifolia. 
1. Orchis spectabilis L. Showy Orchis. (Fig. 1094.) 
Orchis spectabilis Y,. Sp. Pl. 943. 1753. 
Stems 4/’-12’ high, thick, fleshy, 5-angled. 
Leaves 2, near the base of the stem, with 1 or 2 
scales below them, obovate, sometimes 8’ long and 
4’ wide, but usually smaller, clammy to the touch; 
spike 3-6-flowered; flowers about 1’ long, violet- 
purple mixed with lighter purple and white; bracts 
foliaceous, sheathing the ovaries; sepals united in 
an arching galea; petals connivent under the sepals, 
more or less attached to them; lip whitish, diver- 
gent, entire, about as long. as the petals; spur ob- 
tuse, about 8’’ long; column violet on the back; 
capsule about 1’ long, strongly angled. 
In rich woods, New Brunswick to Ontario and Min- 
nesota, south to Georgia, Kentucky and Nebraska. 
Ascends to 4ooo ft. in Virginia. April-June. 
