136 ENGUSn BOTANY. 



the base; rarely the leaves are radical. Flowers terminal and soli- 

 tary or 2 or 3 in a si:)ikc, very large, and brightly coloured. 



Tho name of this genus is derived from the Greek words Kvvpic, Venus, and ttovwv, 

 a shoe or slipper, in allusion to the shape of tho flowers of the species. 



SPECIES I.-CYPRIPEDIUM CALCEOLUS. Linn. 



Plate MCCCCXO. 



BeicJi. Ic. Fl. Germ, et Helv. Vol. XHI. Tab. CCGCXCVI, 

 Billot, Fl. Gall, et Germ. Exsicc. No. 2376. 



Stem leafy. Upper sepal lanceolate ; lateral sepals and petals strap- 

 shaped ; aU of them maroon ; labellum slightly com^jressed, shorter 

 than the sepals and petals, pale yellow. Tenninal lobe of the column 

 nearly ovate, deflexed. 



In woods on limestone. Very rare, and now nearly if not quite 

 extinct. It formerly occurred in several stations in Yorkshire: it 

 was found in Ouldray Gill, near Helmsley, by Mr. J, H. Phillips, as 

 lately as 1849; it also used to occur in Helsotine GUI, about nine 

 miles from Settle, and between Hawnby and Rievaulx; it was once 

 plentiful in Castle Eden Dene, and was noticed there as lately as 1840. 

 It is said to have been found in North Furness, Lancashire. 



England. Perennial. Early Summer. 



Rootstock creeping. Stem erect, 9 to 18 inches high, with leafless 

 sheaths at the base, and several oval sheathing acute or acuminate 

 leaves. Flowers 1, rarely 2. Sepals and petals 1-^ to 1 J inch long, 

 dark maroon ; labellum pale yellow, 1 to 1 ^ inch long, by | to ^ 

 inch deep. Stem, veins of the leaves, pedicels, and ovary slightly 

 puberulent. 



Of this I have no British specimens, except a cultivated one brought 

 from Castle Eden Dene by the late Rev. William Little. 



Common Lady's Slipper. 

 French, Sahot de la Vierge. German, Frauensehuh. 



Robert Brown described raphides in this order ; and it is remarkable that no 

 notice is given of these curious crystals in other plants by that illustrious botanist, 

 judging from the collected edition of his works by the Ray Society. Mr. Gulliver 

 has never failed to find raphides in our Orchidaceee. Brown describes the raphides 

 as smooth or rounded in their shafts ; and this agrees with the subsequent observa- 

 tions of them in various orders of plants by Gulliver, who says that " the shaft of 

 the raphis gradually vanishes or tapers to a point at both ends, and commonly 

 presents no faces or angles." The numerous descriptions we have had of the 

 prismatic form — distinct faces and angles — of raphides have arisen simply from con- 

 founding crystal prisms with raphides. But endless confusion will continue, unless 



