136 MYSTERIES OF THE FLOWERS 



of pure white and thrusts forward a white pouch 

 gaily streaked and barred with red. This noble 

 plant seems to require a root-hold in a sphagnum 

 swamp, and there it makes rank growth and splen- 

 did blooms by the hundreds. All the Cypripedi- 

 ums have the same general construction and exact 

 from their insect guests, in return for their hos- 

 pitality, the same difficult ceremonies already de- 

 scribed. 



RAM'S-HEAD LADY'S SLIPPER Cypripedium arietinum 

 May- A ugust 



We must mention this, the rarest of them all, 

 to be found in cold, damp woods from Quebec to 

 Ontario and southward to New York and Minne- 

 sota. It receives its name from a curious resem- 

 blance it bears to a ram's head, when seen from a 

 certain position. 



SMALL WHITE LADY'S SLIPPER Cypripedium candidum 

 May-June 



The petals and sepals of this species are greenish, 

 spotted with madder-purple, as also is the pouch. 

 Though its colour resembles that of the showy 

 lady's slipper, it can always be distinguished from 

 the latter by its modest height, never more than one 

 foot, its solitary blossom, and its two winged petals, 



