Fox: SPECIES OF CYPRIPEDIUM. 437 



has a musky odor. The stem is one and one-half dm. high, 

 erect and occasionally somewhat twisted. The three or four 

 leaves are seven to ten cm. long, obtusely ovate, scattered and 

 tending to become glabrous. The peduncle is eight to ten cm. 

 high, slender, ultimately hexagonal and minutely brown pube- 

 scent. The ovate- lanceolate bract is four or five cm. long. The 

 flower is small and dull in color. The three sepals are all free, 

 one and one-half to two cm. long, linear to ovate- lanceolate for 

 the superior member which is as wide as the other two would be 

 if united, greenish brown in color and slightly longer than the 

 lip. The paired petals resemble the sepals, in color and shape, 

 but are somewhat longer. The small labellum is conical, blunt 

 anteriorly, pinkish white in color with dull reddish veins. The 

 anterior, horizontal portion of the lip is lighter in color and is 

 covered with long, silky hairs. The ovate staminodium is one 

 cm. long, with a membranous fold serving as a mid-rib. The 

 bilocular anthers are closely attached to the deflexed column. 

 The fruit capsule is brown, inflated and prominently ridged. 



Cypripedium arietinum R. Br. is one of the rarest of the 

 North American species. It is found in bloom in May and fre- 

 quents swamps and wet forests. In North America, it ranges 

 from Maine to Minnesota and between the fortieth and flftieth 

 parallels. In Minnesota it is reported from the central portion 

 of the state to the Lake Superior region. Its area of distribu- 

 tion seems to be more restricted than that of any of the other 

 Atlantic species, since the Great Lake region is its home. 



The plants which most distinctly indicate an ancestral type 

 are Cypripedium reginae Walt, with its tri-lobed stigma, and 

 Cypripedium arietinum R. Br. having all the sepals free.^" An- 

 other interesting point is added when these species are found 

 associated together in the provinces of China.^' 



C. arietinum R. Br. was introduced into England from Amer- 

 ica in 1808 by Chandler and Buckingham^^ and was for some- 

 time known as "Chandler's Cypripedium." Later it was given 

 its present name, because, when viewed in certain positions it 

 suggested a ram's head, hence the name, "Ram's Head Cypri- 

 pedium." 



This species is rarely found in cultivation^^ and was first 

 discovered near Montreal. ^ ^ 



86) Hemsley, W. B. Journ. Linn. Soc. Bot. 33:206. 1892. 



87) Bot. Gaz. 0:286. 1886. 



88) Alt. Hort. Kew. .'5:222. 1813. 



89) Watson, W. Orchids, Cult, and Manage. 518. 1890. 



90) Baldwin. Orchids of N. E. Fig. 8. 1884. 



