psycodes. It is rare and local, but numerous in certain 

 haunts. 



The most showy and beautiful group of the orchids 

 which grow in this country, however, are the Cypripe- 

 diums, with their sac-shaped lips. The most common 

 of these is : 



PLATE XXII 



THE MOCCASIN FLOWER, PINK LADY'S SLIPPER, 

 Cypripedium acaule. Root. Tufted, fibrous. Stem. 

 A simple scape 6' -12' high. Leaves. Two, from the 

 root, somewhat hairy, elliptic, large. Flower. Large, 

 solitary, nodding from the top of the scape, rose-pink and 

 brown. Perianth. Sepals lanceolate, purple-brown and 

 greenish, the two lower united. The petals narrow and 

 longer. The lip very large, pendulous, shoe or sac- 

 shaped, deep rose-pink, veined. Column (.4). With an 

 anther (b) on each side of the large stigma (c). A large 

 petal-like, sterile stamen spreads over them. Ovary (d). 



The nodding Moccasin hangs its heavy head above 

 the fragrant pine needles in sandy or rocky woods. In 

 its native haunts it is irresistibly lovely, for each plant 

 is perfect in itself. When it is gathered and bunched it 

 loses half its charm, although it is too beautiful to be 

 altogether spoiled. Sometimes the lip is white, the sepals 

 and petals yellow, and the leaves a lighter green. This 

 is an albino form, but it appears so frequently that it 

 nearly amounts to a separate variety. 



RAM'S HEAD LADY'S SLIPPER, C. arietinum. Root. 

 Tufted, fibrous. Stem. Simple, 8'-i 2' high. Leaves. 

 3-4, elliptic. Flowers. Solitary, nodding, smaller 

 than others of this genus. Perianth. Sepals longer 

 than the lip, lanceolate, greenish-brown. Petals linear. 

 Lip cone-shaped, red and white, veiny, prolonged at the 

 apex into a distorted spur somewhat resembling a ram's 

 head. Column. Much as C. acaule. 



This is the rarest, one of the smallest, and surely the 

 oddest of the genus, but will, I fear, soon be extinct. 

 When we find it the day is marked with a red letter. It 

 ranges from May to August, through the cold, damp 

 woods of Canada and the Northern States. 



22 



