ORCHIDS 137 



one on either side, wavy and twisted. It grows in 

 bogs and meadows from Xew Jersey to jNIinnesota, 

 Kentucky, and jVIissouri. 



Large Yellow Lady's Slipper — Cypripedium parviflorum 



Smaller Yellow Lady's Slipper — Cypripedium parviflorum, 



var. pubescens {May-July) 



Two varieties of the same species, closely resem- 

 bling each other, and found widely distributed 

 throughout our range. Betw^een the Cypripedium 

 and other orchids we find no transitional forms; 

 hence Darwin has been led to suppose that some 

 sweeping cataclysm has destroyed the connecting 

 links. 



Showy Orchid — Orchis spectabilis 

 April- June 



The next scheme of cross-fertilisation is found 

 in this orchid, which is the first of the family to 

 bloom in our northern regions. It seems like a 

 little model of a larger plant,- made in fragile por- 

 celain or bisque, so firm and crisp it rises from the 

 ground of rich, moist woods. Two leaves first ap- 

 pear; then between them a spike from five to ten 

 inches tall with a few flowers accompanied by 

 pointed bracts. The flower — there are five or six 

 on a stem — has a purple hood or cowl, overhanging 

 a white bib, or lip, and shelters an erect, white col- 



