60 . SHOWY LADY'S SLIPPER, 



'WTiether we regard these cbarming flowers for the singularity 

 of their form, the exquisite texture of their tissues, or the delicate 

 blending of their colours, we must acknowledge them to be altoge- 

 ther lovely and worthy of our admiration. 



The subject of the figure in our plate is the Pink-flosrered 

 Moccasin: it is chiefly fo be found in damp ground, in ttimarack 

 swamps, and near forest creeks, where, in groups of several stems, it 

 appears, showing its pure blossoms among the rank and coarser herb- 

 age. The stem rises to the height of from 18 inches to 2 feet high. 

 The leaves, which are large, ovate, many nerved and plaited, sheath- 

 ing at the base, clothe the fleshy stem, which terminates in a single 

 sharp pointed bract above the flower. The flowers are terminal, from 

 one to three, rarely more; thouga in the large purple and white 

 Lady's Slip})er, the older and stronger plants will occasionally throw 

 out three or four blossoms. This variety is found on the dry plain- 

 lands, in grassy thickets, among the oak openings above Rice Lake, 

 and eastward on the hills above the River Trent. This is most likely 

 the plant described by Gray; the soil alone being different. The 

 unfolded buds of this species are most beautiful, having the appear- 

 ance of slightly flattened globes of delicately-tinted primrose coloured 

 rice paj)er. 



The large sac-like inflated lip of our ^loccasin flower is slightly 

 depressed in front, tinged with rosy pink and striped. The pale thin 

 petals and sepals, two of each, are whitish at first, but turn brown 

 when the flower is more advanced toward maturity. The sepals 

 may be distinguished from the petals ; the former being longer than 

 the latter, and by being united at the back of the flcver. The 

 column on which the stamens are i)laced is three-lobed ; the two 



