ORCHIDS 137 



one on either side, wavy and twisted. It grows in 

 bogs and meadows from New Jersey to Minnesota, 

 Kentucky, and Missouri. 



LARGE YELLOW LADY'S SLIPPER Cypripedium parviflorum 



SMALLER YELLOW LADY'S SLIPPER Cypripedium parviflorum, 



var. pubescens (May-July) 



Two varieties of the same species, closely resem- 

 bling each other, and found widely distributed 

 throughout our range. Between the Cypripedium 

 and other orchids we find no transitional forms; 

 hence Darwin has been led to suppose that some 

 sweeping cataclysm has destroyed the connecting 

 links. 



SHOWY ORCHID Orchis spectabilis 

 April-June 



The next scheme of cross-fertilisation is found 

 in this orchid, which is the first of the family to 

 bloom in our northern regions. It seems like a 

 little model of a larger plant, made in fragile por- 

 celain or bisque, so firm and crisp it rises from the 

 ground of rich, moist woods. Two leaves first ap- 

 pear; then between them a spike from five to ten 

 inches tall with a few flowers accompanied by 

 pointed bracts. The flower there are five or six 

 on a stem has a purple hood or cowl, overhanging 

 a white bib, or lip, and shelters an erect, white col- 



