

CYPRIPEDIUM SPICERIANUM 



[Plate 119.] 



JfativG of Asscnn. 



Epipliytal. Stemless, with spreading distichous ever^een foliage. Leaves few, 



oblong-hgulate, sub-acute, keeled beneath, and there puiplc-spottod townrfl?^ tlio hax- 

 SIX to eight inches long or more, thick and leathery in texture, of a dull -r]., y 

 green colour. Peduncles erect, issuing from nn ol^long compressed ba^ «l nli, 

 dark reddish-purple, puberulous, eight to ten inches high, the flnu-,.r rmri.Mr.'^ fi..m 

 an ancipitous hnear-oblong obtuse bract shorter than the purplish thrcc-rihhrd <.vur\-. 

 J^ lowers about three and a half inches across, with a largo pouch or hj.; dursal 

 sepal larp, standard-like, the base green, hairy, cuneate, su.l.hiuly 0Xj-,ui.1iii- into an 

 ovate, bluntly apiuulate, transversely oblong lamina, two inches brr.;..]. the aides of 

 which are recurved, auriculaeform, wliite, or in some forms tint.'<l with pink, il.e 

 keel or central line being marked with a well-defined pmple siripe ; la' '' .y/^'Av 

 short, connate, ovate, acute, whitish-green; ])ctals ligulatc or liiicar-ohlong, laterally 

 deflexed, the margins neatly wavy, but most so upon the upper side, pnh- \.n.M>i>]i. 

 pcen, with a median purple line and numerous purple fiv<-klf's over tlie Kuri;.<,c; A'^> 

 larje, the pouch somewhat bell-shaped, with round everted auricles ou '^■;i'^h side, 

 and a broad acute sinus in front, glossy, olive-jjrcon, with tlie nntorior ]«arfc dark 

 reddish- brown. Column short, hairy. Stamimde sukpiadrate, ob.solutely three lohcd 

 m front, mauve-purple, with a white border, and yellow markin/r'^ in the centre. 



Cypripedhjm Spiceeiaxum, Reichenlach fd., in Utterls ad cl. Ve'f'-h, DccenilKT, 



1878; 7^. Gardeners' Chronicle, N.s. xiii., 363; Id. IJ Illustration Ilurllcof*', t 173; 



Id. Xenia Orchidacea, t. 231 ; Gardeners' Chronicle, N.s. xiii., 40, fig. 7 (wr»od.nt) ; 



Hooker fd., Botanical Mayazine, t. 6490 ; Moore, Florist and Pnumlo^isf, 1882, 



179 (woodcut) ; Garden, xvii., 169 (woodcut); xxiii., t. 378 (coloured figtirc of 

 blush variety). 



There is, no doubt, that this Ladi/s Slipper, which was first received in Kutrlnnd 

 Herbert Spicer, Esq., of AVoodland«. Godalming, in whoso honour it i> mrv"'\ is 





one of the most interesting and distinct species that has been intj-oduccd of lnt«! y- 

 It was also at one time very rare, and rcalis'^d liigh prices, being much -"^ught aft-r 

 m consequence of its beinff so different from the other spcci..., known in culii\atlr»n ; 



I^ut now that it has been brought home in larger quantities it is more a. ible. 



The plant may be cultivated in any warm moist hm-<\ and is of free -growing 

 liabit, as weU as free in producing its blossoms. Thuv arc several slight \^h'Uom 

 differing in the size and colour of th.k flowers. Tliat whi^^h wc h^rc figure 

 has the dorsal sepal white, while some plants have a shado of rose colour t^nvards 

 the base. Our drawing was taken from a plant in the Nurseries of Aleasr?. Hiigh 

 Lo^' & Co., of aapton, who'^ received a fine importation about two yearJ .-.^. 



