Cypripedia. 331 



instinctive visits of insects to certain plants in search of this food, are, by a 

 mysterious economy, made absolutely necessary to the fructification of the 

 plants ; the insects, accidentally as it were, being the agents for uniting 

 the pollen with the stigmas : for though all the organs are represented with 

 requisite reproductive power in the same individual plant, yet they are so 

 related structurally, that union is impossible without artificial assistance. 

 Among the many interesting features of the vegetable kingdom, the con- 

 trivances for fertilization which prevail among orchids are chief, and, to- 

 gether with the singular and exquisite forms which they present, are an 

 attraction which arrests not only the observation of the student of natural 

 history, but the admiration of every lover of the beautiful who finds any 

 thing in Nature picturesque enough to inspire him with a sentiment of 

 beauty. Exalted ideas of plant-existence proceed from study of the admi- 

 rable processes and marvellous methods which abound in Nature as they 

 are developed by investigation. The Cypripedium alone has interesting 

 chapters enough to reward the researches of the most exacting ; and the fre- 

 quent discoveries of new species are yearly adding to the accumulation of 

 attractions which already cluster around this remarkable genus. 



Of the Cypripsdiiim, there are six species indigenous to the United States, 

 and all found, in more or less abundance, in different localities in the 

 Northern States. They are as follow : C. pubescens, larger yellow ; C. parvi- 

 florum, smaller yellow ; C. speciabile, purple and white ; C. acaule, pink ; 

 C. ca7ididum, white ; C. arieiimim, red and white. 



Five of these species I have growing in my garden, and have no trouble 

 in keeping them. I plant them in the shade in leaf-mould. C. acaule, 

 which is not rare, I have frequently planted in large numbers, but have 

 never had it bloom a second season. 



Mr. Rand, in a recent correspondence respecting our indigenous Cypripe- 

 dia, wrote me of this species as follows : " As to C. acaiile, my woods are full 

 of it. I remember, one day last summer, my little boy brought in more 

 than a hundred blossoms. I have often transplanted them with complete 

 success : they seed freely. Plant it in dry, sandy loam, and shade from the 

 sun ; never set the roots more than an inch deep, spreading them, and 

 mulch with pine-needles." 



On the other hand, a correspondent in New Jersey, devoted to native bot- 



