ORCHIDACE^E 



Crimson-pink 

 May-June 



ORCHID FAMILY 



Cypripedium acaule, Ait. 



Stemless Lady's Slipper, Nerve Root, 



Pink Lady's Slipper, Camel's Foot, 



Purple Lady's Slipper, Squirrel-shoes, 



Moccasin Flower, Two-lips, 



Indian Moccasin, Old-goose. 

 Noah's Ark, 



Cypripedium: name incorrectly Latinized from Greek 

 words for "veins" and a "shoe;" therefore by some 

 authors spelled Cypripedilum. 



Acaule: Latin, meaning without a stem. 



THE PREFERRED HABITAT: dry, sandy soil of the Commons. 



THE PLANT: erect; the flower stem six inches to fifteen 

 inches high, rough with crowded and flattened hairs. 



THE LEAVES: practically basal, folded one around the 

 other; elliptical; rough on both surfaces with flattened, 

 white hairs; parallel veined; deeply grooved; entire; oc- 

 casionally a smaller leaf is borne on the flower stem. 



THE FLOWERS : very large, solitary, with a lanceolate bract 

 which is acute tipped; the sepals three different widths, 

 sometimes one inch and more wide, striped, the hindmost 

 one green at the base; the corolla very irregular, consisting 

 of an inflated sack with deeper pink stripes on a white 

 and pinkish background; the throat greenish with pink 

 spots, bearded with short, white hairs; the mouth is closed 

 with a stiff, triangular projection. Albinos have been 

 found, but are rare. 



THE FRUIT: a capsule. 



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