Wild Flowers East of the Rockies 77 



SHOWY LADY'S SLIPPER (Cypripedium hir- 



sutum) is a magnificent orchid, usually regarded as 

 the most beautiful of the genus. It is of imposing di- 

 mensions and has large fragrant flowers. The leaves 

 are very large, closely crowded along the stem and 

 very deeply ribbed, giving the plant, disregarding the 

 flower, an appearance very much like the beautiful 

 foliage of the common False Hellebore. While this 

 species is not rare, it is quite locally distributed and 

 it is always with a feeling of exultation that we dis- 

 cover a new colony. 



The inflated flower lip is large and balloon-like, 

 about 2 in. in length; white, with crimson-magenta 

 blotches and streaks on the front edge; the sepals 

 are round-ovate and the petals oblong, both pointed 

 and both greenish-white in color. The leafy stem, 

 that bears at its summit the solitary blossom, is from 

 1 to 2 feet in height. Found locally from Newfound- 

 land to Minn, and southwards to Ga. and Mo. flower- 

 ing in rich woods during June and July. 



Cypripedium passerinum is a smaller species with 

 a pale magenta. lip, spotted with deep magenta at the 

 base within; the upper sepal is yellowish and nearly 

 round. The stem is covered with soft hairs; it is 

 about eight inches in height. The elliptic-lanceolate 

 leaves are sharply pointed. This species may be 

 found in rich woods from Mich, and Ontario, west- 

 wards. 



SMALL WHITE LADY'S SLIPPER (Cypripedium 

 candidum). The flower of this species is of the same 

 size and shape as that of the Yellow variety, but the 

 lip is pure white outside and striped with purple in- 

 side at the base; the two lateral sepals and the two 

 petals are ovate-lanceolate, greenish, spotted with 

 brown. It is a single flowered species with numerous 

 leaves. It is found in swamps from N. Y. and Minn, 

 southwards. 



