ORCHID FAMILY. Orchidacest. 



„. . . *. This is perhaps the most beautiful plant 



Showy Lady s » ,, f , „,, 



Slipper °* tne wnole genus. The stem is stout 



Cypripedium and leafy to the top, the flower fragrant ; 

 spectabile its pouch is white more or less blotched or 



White, crim- s tained with velvety light crimson-ma- 

 June^uly" * g enta > the se pals and petals white, broad 

 and not longer than the rotund pouch. 

 The sterile stamen long-heart-shaped, stained yellow at 

 the tip and spotted crimson, crowns the column (see 

 C. acaule). 1-2 feet high. Swamps and wet woods 

 Me., south to Ga., west to Minn. 



The commoner and more familiar lady's 



Moccasin slipper, with two large leaves from the 



Flower or 



Stemless root, without a plant-stem, the slightly 



Lady's Slipper fragrant flower terminating a long slender 



Cypripedium stem with a green leaflet or bract at the 



acaule point of junction ; the pouch crimson-pink 



Crimson-pink , , ... » . , ..» , . . 



May-early July ( rare1 ^ vvhlte ) veined with a deeper pink, 

 sepals and petals greenish and brown, 

 more or less curved and wavy. The third, or sterile 

 stamen of Cypripedium crowning the column and over- 

 hanging the stigma is variable according to the species ; 

 in C. acaule it is angularly six-sided, in C. candidum 

 lance-shaped, in C. pubescens long-triangular, and in C. 

 spectabile heart-shaped ; beneath these is the hidden 

 stigma w T hich receives pollen from the backs of visiting 

 bumblebees or honeybees, or most frequently from the 

 smaller bees, members of the tribes Andrena and Hal- 

 ictus (C. M. Weed). In My Studio Neighbors Win. 

 Hamilton Gibson describes at length the fertilization of 

 C, acaule by the bumblebee. 8-12 inches high. Me. to 

 N. Car. and Ky., west to Minn. 



