THE ORCHIDS OF NEW ENGLAND. 



V 



other Orchids, is rudimentary in Cypripedium, and is repre- 

 sented by a singular shield-like projecting body " conspicu- 

 ously placed just over the lip. The fertile anthers which sup- 

 ply its deficiencies lie back of it, one on either side of the short, 

 bent column, and each bearing two small oval cells. These 

 anthers " belong to an inner whorl or circle, and are repre- 

 sented in ordinary Orchids by various rudiments. There is no 



Fio. 7. — Cypripedium. 



1. Ripened seed-vessel of Smaller Yellow Lady's Slipper. 



2. Front view of same flower, a, a, anthers ; a', sterile stamen ; s, s, s, sepals ; J>, A 



petals ; /', labellum ; en, entrance. 



3. Side view of organs of Showy Lady's Slipper ; si, stigma. 



4. Root of Lady's Slipper. 



5-6. (From Miiller.) Essential organs in C. calceolus seen from belcw. Flower in longitudinal 

 section after removal of sepals and superior petals ; lip bent slightly downward ; ov, 

 ovary; ex, exit. 



rostellum, for all three stigmas are fully developed," though so 

 united as to appear as one body, and this, also shield-shaped, 

 lies behind and concealed by the rudimentary anther, and is 

 only slightly viscid. The pollen has no stalk or disc, but is 

 " loose and pulpy or powdery," and, where it is exposed by the 

 opening of the cells, sticky, so that it is often carried off either 

 bodily or piecemeal." There is no nectar in the lip, but "the 

 inner surface is coated with hairs, the tips of which secrete 



