IRIDE^— IRIS TRIBE 225 



Bishop Mant thus aUudes to some of these flowers. Comparing them 

 with the Early Purple Orchis, he says : — 



"And few of that most curious race, 

 Or those that rival them in grace. 

 Perhaps exceed ; the Ophrys kind 

 In the advancing season join'd, 

 Stanip'd with their insect imagery, 

 Gnat, fly, and butterfly and bee, 

 To lure us in pursuit to rove 

 Through winding coombe, through shady grove." 



15. Lady's Slipper (CypripMium). 



Lady's Slipper (C. calcMtis). —^tem leafy ; sepals and petals spread- 

 ing ; lip inflated, slightly compressed, and shorter than the sepals ; rootstock 

 creeping, not tuberous. Those who have ever seen this lovely and rare 

 Orchis, cannot fail to regret that it is not a more common woodland flower. 

 It is the most beautiful of European Orchids, and has a far larger blossom 

 than any other of our native species. This is usually solitary, though two 

 flowers sometimes grow together on the leafy downy stem, which is a foot 

 or a foot and a half high. The sepals are an inch or an inch and a half 

 long, and the petals are narrow, all being of a deep rich brown colour. The 

 swollen lip, over an inch in length, is rich yellow, with a network of darker 

 veins, and elegant slipper-like form. It flowers in May, and grows in some 

 dense woods in Durham and Yorkshire, and other northern counties, but 

 appears to be almost extinct. It is not only innocuous, but somewhat 

 nutritious ; and a decoction of its roots was recommended by Gmelin in 

 cases of epilepsy ; but Professor Burnett, remarking on this, says that their 

 influence on the disease " is more than apocryphal." The French call the 

 plant Soulier de la Fierge, or Soulier de Notre Dame ; the Germans, Venusschuh; 

 and the Portuguese, Calcado de Nuessa Senhora. 



This species diffiers from all the other British Orchids in having two 

 anthers ; the others have each a single anther with two cells and two or 

 more pollen masses. In this case the column, instead of being erect, curves 

 over, and with its anthers almost fills the entrance to the bag-like lip. 

 Attracted by the fragrance, small bees {Andrena) push in to partake of the 

 honey they mistakenly suppose to be there. The incurved edges of the lip 

 prevent return by the way they came, and they have to crawl out by the 

 side of the column, first pressing against the stigma, then carrying oft' some 

 pollen from one of the anthers. 



Order LXXXIV. IRIDE^— IRIS TRIBE. 



Perianth 6-parted ; stamens, 3, rising from the base of the sepals ; ovary 

 inferior, 3-celled ; style 1 ; stigmas 3, often petal-like ; capsule 3-celled, 

 3-valved ; seeds numerous. The order consists of perennial herbs, often 

 with very handsome flowers, rising from a spathe or sheath, and having, 

 except in Trichonema and Crocus, flat sword-shaped sheathing leaves. They 

 arc chiefly natives of warm and temperate climates. 



1. Iris. — Perianth with the three outer divisions longer and reflexed; 



III.— 29 



