AXD THE IK MAXAGEMENT. 143 



Cypripedium. 



stnicturall}- it differs from it ver\" considerably. Not only 

 does the structure of the flowers of C)-pripediunis furnish 

 evidence of their belonging" to a more primitive t)'pe of 

 Orchids than an\' other existing forms, but the geo- 

 graphical distribution C)f the genus also reveals some remark- 

 able facts ; all tend to show that the indi\idual plants 

 comprising them must at one time have existed in greater 

 numbers, and have been spread over a much wider area 

 than they at present occup\- in a v.-ild state. This leaves 

 little doubt that the gradual process of extinction has 

 been as surely in operation with this family as it has 

 been in other families of the Natural Order that ha\e 

 become onl\- subjects of stud}' for the geological botanist. 

 Xo doubt, however, the final extinction is far remote, and 

 that the plants ma)- be preser\'ed indefinitely by the hand 

 of man. 



Paradoxical as this ma\' appear to culti\-ators who have 

 grown to regard C>'pripediums as being amongst the easiest 

 plants to propagate, the following considerations will go far 

 to show that the statement here offered rests upon a good 

 foundation. xAlthough the Cypripediums are still spread 

 over large portions of the surface of the earth, in both the 

 Eastern and the Western Hemispheres, }-et the species, 

 almost without exception, have retreated to stations that 

 are restricted in area, and are frequently isolated and 

 remote from each other. Some species are still found to be 

 abundant in their native habitats, and are frequently being 

 imported in large quantities. It is very clifferent with 

 others. We will take for example C. supciinciis, better 

 known in gardens as C. VcitcJiii. Two plants of 

 this beautiful species appeared accidentally among an 

 importation of C. barbaftiiii, and from these it 

 is supposed that all the plants in cultivation have been 

 deri\'ed. It is quite uncertain whether this species still 

 exists in a wild state. Another illustration may be cited 

 in the rare and highly-prized C. Fairieanuiii, whose habitat 

 is unknown. All specimens that have existed in cultivation 

 have been derived from a few plants that were first 

 casually imported. The species has now become so scarce 

 that at the present time there are not more than two or 

 three plants in cultivation. Every endeavour has been 

 made during the past twenty-five years to re-discover the 



