ORCHID FAMILY 175 



find, though very rarely, one of these Lady's- 

 slippers almost white in color a strange varia- 

 tion, such as is often found in many other plants. 



There is a great temptation to gather these 

 flowers in greater numbers than are needed for 

 any reasonable decoration. A few of them in a 

 simple jar are really more effective than a mass, 

 and there is then a chance for the blossoms to 

 remain in the woods in future years, a joy to all 

 beholders. 



SHOWY LADY'S-SLIPPER. While the finding of 

 the Pink Lady's-slippers may readily be an every- 

 day occurrence with the nature-lover in many of 

 the eastern states, a discovery of almost any of the 

 other species marks for most of us a red-letter 

 day. For these other species are becoming more 

 and more rare and are seldom seen even by those 

 who are much in the woods. The beautiful 

 Showy Lady's-slipper is the largest of our native 

 species. It inhabits deep swamps, generally those 

 secluded and remote from human habitation. 

 The single large white blossom is rendered con- 

 spicuously beautiful by the wine-red hue which 

 suffuses much of the pouch-like labellum. 



YELLOW LADY'S-SLIPPERS. We have two 

 native species of Yellow Lady's-slippers, which 

 both grow in swampy regions and bear a 

 general resemblance to each other, although 

 they differ much in size. One is called the Large 



