CLASS XX, ORDER 11. ] CYPRIPEDIUM. 1130 
ORDER II. 
DIAND'RIA. 2 STAMENS. 
— 
GENUS XY. CYPRIPE'DIUM.—Liny. Lady's Slipper. 
Nat. Ord. Orcuipr'm. Juss. 
Grn. Cuan. Sepals loosely spreading, lip very large, obtuse, inflated, 
slipper-shaped. Column terminated at the back by a petaloid 
lobe, (the sterile anther), and separating the anthers. The two 
anterior sepals often united.—Name from Kuzets, Venus ; and 
TOY, a slipper. 
1. C. Calceo'lus, Linn. (Fig. 1357.) Lady's Slipper. Stem leafy, 
terminal lobe of the column nearly oval, incurved; lip somewhat 
laterally compressed, shorter than the perianth. 
English Botany, t. 1—English Flora, vol. iv. p. 52.—Hooker, 
British Flora, ed. 4. vol. i. p. 320.—Lindley, Synopsis, p. 263. 
Root creeping, with numerous simple flesh fibres. Stem erect, 
from twelve to eighteen inches high, striated, downy. Leaves ovate, 
acute, numerously ribbed, somewhat downy at the back, embracing 
the stem at the base, three or four alternate, and often there is another 
at the top of the stem smaller, and when there is a second flower it is 
diminished into a bractea. Flower mostly solitary, terminal, large, 
conspicuous, very handsome. Sepals lanceolate, taper pointed, from 
an inch to an inch and a half long, of a rich brownish purple colour, 
the upper one erect, somewhat bent forward, the two others united 
under the lip, and appearing like a single one, bifid at the point, 
Petals the same colour, longer, narrower, waved on the margin. Lip 
large, handsome, yellow, netted with darker veins, internally spotted 
inflated, oblong, obtuse, somewhat compressed laterally, about an inch 
long. Column prominent, terminating at the back by a stalked lobe, 
the barren stamen, and dividing the anthers, the lobe elliptic, obtuse, 
with two angles, the apex rounded with a short inflexed point. 
Anthers lateral, elliptical. Capsule elliptic oblong, obtuse, ribbed, and 
furrowed. 
Habitat.—W oods in the North of England; rare. 
Perennial; flowering in June. 
This is the largest and most beautiful of our European Orchises, 
It is frequently cultivated as a border flower, but requires a shady 
situation, and a light peaty soil. There are some most beautiful species 
brought from North America, but require great care in their cultiva- 
ion and protection from frost and moisture. 
