74 THE ORCHID FAMILY. 



tween half an inch and an inch long. Of both these plants the roots are 

 gathered and used by chemists as a substitute for valerian. 



C. acaide, moccasin fiower, pink lady's slipper, or Noah's ark as it is 

 locally called, is another elhn-like species possessed of singular charm, and 

 which also has a delicate fragrance noticeable sometimes about even the 

 foliage. In a solitary way the large blossom grows on a pubescent, leafless 

 scape of from six to twelve inches high. Its spreading sepals are oblong- 

 lanceolate and purplish, while the two lateral petals are narrower, pointed 

 and of much the same colour. But the most attractive part of the flower is 

 its large, inflated lip. This is rosy pink and veined with purple or less 

 often of a pure white. Long after June when the bloom has passed away 

 there remains as a feature of deep woods and rocky places the plant's two 

 elliptical leaves which sheathe the scape near its base. They are marked 

 by a roughish pubescence and are ciliate about the edges. From Ten- 

 nessee it grows along the coast to Ontario and westward. 



C. regincE, showy lady's slipper, {Plate XXII.), must ever inspire a keen 

 admiration in all who are fortunate enough to see its fair loveliness. In 

 fact, by Dr. Gray it was regarded as the most beautiful of the genus. The 

 sepals and petals of the large flowers are pure white while the lip is tinted 

 with pink and marked and dotted with deep magenta. It is much inflated and 

 has an oblong orifice. These flowers have also the charm of fragrance. At 

 the summit of the pubescent and leafy stem one or occasionally about three 

 flowers burst into bloom. They are an exquisite sight. The leaves are el- 

 liptical, ciliate on the margins and finely pubescent and in manner of 

 growth suggest the foliage of Cypripedium hirsutum. From June until 

 August there is for those that seek a chance of finding these rare flowers in 

 the woods and swamps, and about as far southward as Georgia. 



It is an interesting fact to recall that this species, as well as a related and 

 larger one in South Africa, was at one time thought to have taken for its 

 flowers the form of a great spider, the habit of which is to catch small birds 

 and insects and then poison them by the venom of its bite. Being alarmed 

 by the resemblance, it was further presumed that humming birds shunned 

 the plant and its nectar was thus preserved from their plundering. 



SHOWY ORCHID. SPRING ORCHID. 



OrcJiis spectdbilis. 



FAMILY COLOUR ODOUR RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 



Orchid. White and pici-plish Fragrant. Georgia and Kentucky April-JiDic. 



pink. northward and lucstward. 



Flmvers : growing loosely in a short, terminal spike and being subtended by 

 large, foliacious bracts. Sepals: somewhat united and forming a sort of hood; 

 petals converging under the petals. Lip : white ; spreading and about equalling the 



