ORCHIS FAMILY 



ORCHIDACEAE 



MOCCASIN FLOWER. STEMLESS LADY'S SLIPPER 



Cypripediiim acaule Ait. 



This handsome and delightfully fragrant Orchid was formerly 

 common but is now very rare. It grows in dry sandy or rocky 

 woods from Newfoundland to Manitoba and south to North 



Carolina and Tennes- 

 see, and bloorhs in 

 May and June. 



It has fleshy fib- 

 rous roots, 2 basal 

 leaves and a rather 

 stout, i-flowered 

 stalk 6-15 inches high. 

 Stem and leaves are 

 glandular hairy. 



The sepals and 



lateral petals are 



pie, whereas the large in- 



ke lip is a beautiful pink 



veins. The lip is nearly 



must be forced open by 



gathering nectar. The 



ranular. 



The Larger Yellow Lady's Slipper, 

 Cypripedium parviflorurn Salisb. var. 

 pubescens (Willd.) Knight, grows in 

 woods or in swampy or boggy places. It is a larger plant, 1-2 feet high, 

 and the stem bears several oval leaves 2-6 inches long and 1-3 inches 

 wide. The greenish sepals, striped with purple, are ovate or lance- 

 olate and longer than the lip, whereas the lateral petals, similarly 

 colored and always twisted, are narrower. The lip is a large inflated 

 sac with a rounded opening on the upper side. It is pale or golden 

 yellow and 1-2 inches long. 



The Smaller Yellow Lady's Slipper, Cypripedium parviflonim 

 Salisb., is similar but the petals are reddish brown and the lip, much 

 smaller than in the larger variety, is very fragrant. The species is 

 very rare in sandy swamps of the state. 



The Small White Lady's Slipper, Cypripedium candidum Muhl., 

 is a dainty orchid of cool boggy prairies and grows in clumps of 2-20 

 or more stems. The moccasin-shaped lip is less than i inch long 

 and is white outside and purple striped within. The other petals and 

 the sepals are narrow, elongated, more or less twisted, and spotted 

 with purple. 



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