454 ORCUIDACEA:. (ORCHIS FAMILY.) 



roots, generally lasting until the fourth year before it shrivels, so that 2-3oi 

 more are found, horizontally connected. Scape 1 high. Flowers dingy green- 

 ish-brown and purple ; the lip whitish and speckled, nearly ' long. 



17. CYPRIPEDIUUI, L. LADY'S SLIPPER. 



Sepals spreading ; the 2 anterior distinct, or commonly united into one under 

 the lip. Petals similar but usually narrower, spreading. Lip a large inflated 

 sac, somewhat slipper-shaped. Column short, 3-lobed ; the lateral lobes bearing 

 a 2-cclled anther under each of them, the middle lobe (sterile stamen) dilated 

 and petal-like, thickish, incurved. Pollen pulpy or -waxy. Stigma terminal, 

 obscurely 3-lobed. Hoot of many tufted fibres. Leaves large, many-nerved 

 and plaited, sheathing at the base. Flowers solitary or few, large and showy. 

 (Name composed of Kinrpis, Venus, and irodiov, a sock or buskin, i. e. Venus'a 

 Slipper.) Also called MOCCASON-F LOWER. 



$ 1. Stem leafy, 1 - 3-flowered : 'sepals and the linear wavy -twisted, petals longer than 

 the lip, pointed, greenish shaded with purplish-brown ; the 2 anterior sepals united 

 into one quite or nearly to the tip. 



1. C. piibeseeiis, Willd. (LARGER YELLOW LADY'S SLIPPER.) Se- 

 pals elongated-lanceolate ; Up Jlattened laterally, very convex and gibbous above, 

 pale yellow; sterile stamen (appendage of the column) triangular. Bogs and 

 damp low woods ; common northward and westward, and southward in the 

 Alleghanies. May, June. Stem 2 high, pubescent, as " are the broadly oval 

 acute leaves. Flower scentless. Lip 1^'- 2' long. 



2. C. parviflorum, Salisb. (SMALLER YELLOW LADY'S SLIPPER.) 

 Sepals ovate or ovate-lanceolate; Up flattish from above, bright yellow; sterile sta- 

 men triangular ; leaves oval, pointed. Rich low woods ; rather common. 

 May, June. Stem l-2 high. Flower fragrant: perianth more brown- 

 purple than the last : lower sepal often narrower than the upper, frequently cleft 

 at the apex. Lip | f - 1 ' long. 



3. C. caiidi<liim, Mohl. (SMALL WHITE LADY'S SLIPPER.) Sepal* 

 ovate-lanceolate ; lip flattish laterally, convex above, white ; sterile stamen lanceo- 

 late; leaves lance-oblong, acute. Low grounds, W. Penn. to Kentucky, Wis- 

 consin, and northwestward. Plant 5' -10' high, slightly pubescent, 1 -flowered. 

 Petals and sepals greenish, nearly equal in length, not much longer than the 

 lip, which is f ' long. 



$ 2. Stem very leafy, 1 -3-flowered: sepals and petals flat and rounded, white, not 

 longer than the lip, the 2 anterior sepals perfectly united into one. 



4. C. specttibilc, Swartz. (SnowY LADY'S SLIPPER.) Sepals round- 

 ovate or the upper orbicular, rather longer than the oblong petals ; lip much in- 

 flated, white tinged with purple in front ; sterile stamen heart-ovate. Peat-bogs, 

 Maine and W. New England to Illinois ; common northward, and southward 

 along the Alleghanies. July. The most beautiful of the genus, downy, 2 

 high. Leaves ovate, pointed. Lip fully l' in diameter, sometimes almost all 

 purple. 



