CYPRIPEDIUM ARIETINUM. RAMS-HEAD MOCCASIN-FLOWER. 2"] 



type of the orchid flower is to have its parts in three-leaved verticils, 

 that is to say, if all the parts were to appear in the gradual rhyth- 

 mical order we find in so many flowers, we might expect to see a 

 three-leaved calyx, a corolla of three petals, three or six stamens, 

 and perhaps three pistils; but in Orchidse so many of the parts 

 have been remarkably developed, suppressed, or united with other 

 parts, that the student often has to use some ingenuity to discover 

 the original plan. In many orchids, however, the outer whorl of 

 three, forming the calyx of other flowers, can be readily traced ; 

 but it is one of the peculiarities of Cypripcdium to have apparendy 

 but two, because two of the original parts have been united into 

 one. In the species we now illustrate the relation with other 

 genera is somewhat preserved by all the three being separate and 

 distinct. As this union of the sepals into two portions was for- 

 merly considered one of the chief foundations of the genus Cypri- 

 pedumi, some botanists, notably Beck in his " Flora of the North- 

 ern and Middle States," one of the earliest systematic works on 

 American botany, made this into a disdnct genus on account of its 

 three-leaved calyx, under the name of Ai^ietimtm Aiiicricannm. 

 The flower differs in general appearance from other American 

 Cypripcdiiuns, and suggested to R. Brown, who first described it in 

 Alton's "Hortus Kewensis," the name arietimim, from the resem- 

 blance of the flower, when held in certain posidons, to the head 

 of a ram. 



This species was not known to the earlier botanists. The ear- 

 liest note we find of it indicates that it was first discovered near 

 Montreal, Canada, in 1808. But Muhlenberg, who, in 1813, pub- 

 lished a catalogue of North American plants, does not include it 

 in his list. Nuttall refers to it in 18 18, but still confines it to 

 Canada. Of late years it has been reported from Maine to New 

 York, and is in Parry's lists of Minnesota plants. Prof Aughey 

 reports it from Nebraska, which is probably its western limit. In 

 all these locations it is believed to be rare, and those who collect 

 it usually regard themselves as fortunate. The writer has never 

 been one of these lucky botanists, and he is indebted for the spe- 



