SWAMPS, BOGS, AND MARSHES 8 1 



94. Calypso 



Calypso borealis. — Family, Orchis. Cy/(?r, purple, pink, 

 and yellow. Leaf, i, roundish, slightly heart-shaped, tiiin, 

 man3f-nerved, pointed, on a petiole whose base sheathes the 

 base of the stem. Titne, May and June. 



Sepals and petals nearly alike, narrow and pointed. Lip, 

 broad, swollen, sac-shaped, 2-parted at the apex, with woolly, 

 yellow hairs inside. Column, broad and petal-like, the lid-like 

 anther drooping from its summit. Scape, 3 to 6 inches tall, 

 sheathed with about 3 loose scales. 



The pretty, brightly colored flower is solitary and drooping. 

 The bulbous root lies snugly in a bed of moss, and whoever finds 

 this sweet nymph does not need to be told that he has a treas- 

 ure. 



95. Showy Lady's Slipper 



Cypripedium spectdbile. — Lnxmily, Orchis. Color, white and 

 pink. Leaves, large, numerous, pointed, ovate, many-ribbed. 

 Time, June, July. 



It must be a rare plant that draws from Dr. Gray the expres- 

 sion, " The most beautiful of the genus." All the sepals and 

 petals are white, except for the blush on the front of the broad, 

 inflated, not twisted lip. Stem, downy, 2 feet high, from fibrous 

 roots. It is not easy to find, being a shy thing, and hiding its 

 beauty in peat -swamps, where, however, if once discovered, it 

 may be seen to grow in numbers. 



96. Ram's-head Lady's Slipper 



C. ariethium bears 3 or 4 leaves, and a single, drooping flower, 

 with greenish-brown sepals and petals, the lip red and white, 

 veiny, prolonged into a blunt spur at the apex. 



The shape of the spurred lip and sepals around it suggest a 

 ram's head. Many of our orchids, the cultivated ones especially, 

 without any great stretch of the imagination, can be likened to 

 insects and animals. 



