454 ORCHiDACE^. (orchis family.) 



roots, generally lasting until the third year before it shrivels, so thai 2 - 3 oi 

 more are found, horizontally connected. Scape 1° high. Flowers dingy green- 

 ish-brown and purple ; the lip whitish and speckled, nearly J' long. 



17. CYPRIPEDIVM, L. Lady's Slipper. 



Sepals spreading ; the 2 anterior distinct, or commonly united into one under 

 the lip. Petals similar but usually narrower, spreading. Lip a large inflated 

 sac, somewhat slipper-shaped. Column short, 3-lobed ; the lateral lobes bearing 

 a 2-colled anther under each of them, the middle lobe (sterile stamen) dilated 

 and petal-like, thickish, incurved. Pollen pulpy-granular. Stigma terminal, 

 obscurely 3-lobed. — Root of many tufted fibres. Leaves large, many-nerved 

 and plaited, sheathing at the base. Flowers solitary or few, large and showy. 

 (Name composed of Kvnpis, Venus, and jroStov, u socjc or buskin, i. e. Venus's 

 Slipper.) Also called Moccason-flower. 



§ I . Stem leafy, 1 - Z-flowered : sepals and the linear wavy-twisted petals longer than 

 the lip, pointed, greenish shaded with purplish-brown ; the 2 anterior sepcUs united 

 into one quite or nearly to the tip. 



1. C. pubesccns, Willd. (Laeger Yellow Lady's Slipper.) Se- 

 pals elongated-lanceolate ; lip flattened laterally, very convex and gibbous above, 

 pale yellow; sterile stamen (appendage of tlie column) triangular. — Bogs and 

 damp low woods ; common northward and westward, and southward in the 

 AUeghanies. May, June. — Stem 2° high, pubescent, as are the broadly oval 

 acute leaves. Flower scentless. Lip 1^'- 2' long. 



2. C. parviflorum, Salisb. (Smaller Yellow Lady's Slipper.) 

 Sepals ovate or ovate-lanceolate ; lip flatiish from above, bright yellow ; sterile sta- 

 men triangular ; leaves oval, pointed. — Kich low woods ; rather common. 

 May, June. — Stem l°-2° high. Flower fragrant: perianth more brown- 

 purple than the last : lower sepal often nan-ower than the upper, frequently cleft 

 at the apex. Lip |' - 1' long. 



3. C. c:in(liduill, Muhl. (Small "White Lady's Slipper.) Sepals 

 ovate-lanceolate ; lip flattish laterally, convex above, white ; sterile stamen lanceo- 

 late ; leaves lance-oblong, acute. — Low grounds, W. Pcnn. to Kentucky, Wis- 

 consin, and northwestward. — Plant 5' -10' high, slightly pubescent, 1-flowered. 

 Petals and sepals greenish, nearly equal in length, not much longer than the 

 lip, which is |' long. 



^ 2. Stem very leafy, 1 - 3-flmoered : sepals and petals flat and rounded, 'vhite, not 

 longer than the lip, the 2 anterior sepals perfectly united into onf 



4. C. spectslbile, Swartz. (Showy Lady's Slipper.) Sepals round- 

 ovate or the upper orbicular, rather longer than the oblong petals ; lip much in- 

 flated, white tinged with purple in front ; sterile stamen heart-ovate. — Peat-bogs, 

 Maine and W. New England to Wisconsin ; common northward, and southward 

 along the AUeghanies. July. — The most beautiful of the genus, downy, 2° 

 high. Leaves ovate, pointed. Lip fully If in diameter, sometimes almost all 

 purple. 



