MOCCASIN FLOWER. PINK, OR STEMLESS 
LADY’S SLIPPER 
Cypripedium acaile. Orchid Family. 
YPRIPEDIUM is the Greek name for Venus’s 
slipper, and it has been given to this remark- 
able family, which forms the most showy and loveliest 
group of our native Orchids. How cleverly they repre- 
sent Nature’s floral tribute to the memory of Hiawa- 
tha’s clan — the American Indian! They are easily 
identified by the large, inflated, pouch-shaped lip, the 
colour of which also indicates the species. The ex- 
quisite Moccasin Flower is the largest flowered of them 
all. It grows from six to twelve inches high, in deep, 
sandy, or rocky woods during May and June. It is the 
state flower of Minnesota. Two large, thick, pointed 
oval, slightly hairy and many ribbed leaves, clasping at 
the base, spring from a tufted, thick-fibred root. A 
long, slender flower stem rises from between the leaves 
and bears a small, green leaflet near its curved top. 
The flower, with its lip curiously-developed into a large, 
hollow pouch, hangs from the top of the stem like a 
shepherd’s crook. This pouch, which suggests some- 
what the shape of a peanut, is slit at the top and its 
edges are folded inward. Its prevailing colour is 
pink, or occasionally white, with a fine network of 
delicate purple veinings. The upper portion of its 
interior surface is covered with long white hairs. 
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