NATIVE WILD FLOWERS 



closely. The scape rises from between the two large oval 

 leaves, which lie horizontally on the mosses amidst which 

 the plant grows. This species is only one-flowered. 



A time will come when these rare productions of our soil 

 will disappear from among us, to be found only in those 

 waste and desolate places where the foot of civilized man 

 can hardly penetrate; where the flowers of the wilderness 

 flourish, bloom and decay unseen save by the all-seeing eye 

 of Him who adorns the lonely places of the earth, filling 

 them with beauty and fragrance. 



For whom are these solitary objects of beauty reserved? 

 Shall we say, with Milton : 



" Thousands of unseen beings walk this earth, 

 Both while we wake and while we sleep 

 And think, though man were none, 

 That earth would want spectators, God want praise?" 



YELLOW LADY^S SLIPPERS. Cypripedium parviflorum 

 (Salisb.) and Cypripedium pubescens (Willd.). 



" And golden slippers meet for fairies' feet." 



Of the golden-flowered Moccasin flowers we boast "of two 

 very beautiful species, C. pubescens (Hairy Moccasin 

 flower) and C. parviflorum (Lesser-flowered Moccasin 

 flower). The larger plant is the more showy; the smaller 

 the more graceful and with a delicate fragrance which is 

 not so strong in the larger flower. The long spirally 

 twisted petals and sepals, of a purplish brown color some- 

 times tinted and veined with red, give this smaller flower 

 a very elegant appearance, though the rich golden hue of 

 the larger is more striking to the eye. 



C. parviflorum affects the moist soil of wet grassy 

 meadows and swamps, while the larger plant loves the 

 open plain lands among shrubs and tall grasses. In the 



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