NATIVE WILD FLOWERS 



to all the species. The plants of this family are remark- 

 able alike for the singular beauty of their flowers and 

 the peculiar arrangement of the internal organs. In the 

 Linnsean classification they were included, in common with 

 all the Orchids, among the Gynandria. 



Whether we regard these charming flowers for the singu- 

 larity of their form, the exquisite texture of their tissues, 

 or the delicate blending of their colors, we must acknow- 

 ledge them to be altogether lovely and worthy of our 

 admiration. 



One of the rarest, and at the same time most beautiful 

 and curious, of our native Orchids is the 



KAM'S-HEAD ORCHIS Cypripedium arietinum (R-Br.), 



which has smooth glaucous green leaves and small purplish 

 flowers bearing a close resemblance to a ram's head, with 

 the horns and ears and a tuft of wool on the top of the 

 head. It is seldom over six inches in height; it grows in 

 cold peat bogs, and flowers in June. Associated with it we 

 find our most gorgeous representative of the family, the 



SHOWY LADY^S SLIPPER OR PINK-FLOWERED MOCCASIN 

 PLANT Cypripedium spectabile (Swartz). 



(PLATE XIII.) 



This grows chiefly in tamarack swamps and near forest 

 creeks, where, in groups of several stems, it displays 

 its pure blossoms among the rank and coarser herbage. 

 The stem rises to the height of from eighteen inches to two 

 feet. The leaves, which are large, ovate, many nerved and 

 plaited, sheathing at the base, clothe the fleshy stem, which 

 terminates in a single sharp-pointed bract above the flower. 

 The flowers are terminal and generally solitary, although 



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