Ladies' Slipper. 193 



CYPRIPEDIUM— LADIES' SLIPPER. 



Natural Order, Orchidaceae ; Linnsean System, Gynandria, Diandria. Gene- 

 ve Distinctions : — Corolla, four-petalled, spreading ; lip, inflated, ventri- 

 c ose, obtuse ; column, terminated by a petaloid lobe ; capsule, three- 

 valved, one -celled. 



Q, ctcauk- — Scape, leafless, one-flowered ; leaves, two, radical, elliptic- 

 oblong* rather acute ; petals, lanceolate ; lip, longer than the petals, cleft 

 before.— Plate 27. 



Cypripedium is compounded of two Greek words, meaning 

 Venus' Slipper, in allusion to the form of the lip, which, how- 

 ever, bears no very striking resemblance to that of a slipper. 

 The genus contains several very curious and beautiful plants, 

 f which the one in our plate is perhaps the best known in the 

 Northern States. It is not easy to mistake this species for any 

 jjiinor else, or to confound it with any other Cypripedium. It 

 differs from all others of the same genus in having no stem 

 leaves. The leaves are never more than two ; they spring 

 from the root, are large, plaited, and downy. The scape is 

 from eight to twelve inches high, the flower single, nodding. 

 The petals are four, of a purplish green color, the two lateral 

 ones twisted. The chief beauty of the flower consists in the 

 lip, or nectary, which is a large, veined, inflated bag, of a deli- 

 cate pink color. This plant grows in old, dark woods, not 

 uncommonly, in most parts of New England, and blossoms in 

 June. 



Three other species are natives of the United States. One 

 of these, C. parvijlorum, is readily known by its leafy stem, and 

 yellow flowers, and another, C. arietinum, often called Ram's 

 Head, has a much smaller flower than the rest, with linear 

 petals. The most beautiful, and largest species, is C. spectabile. 

 It is more than two feet in height, with large leaves, and a 

 white purple striped lip at least two inches long. 



We ought to add, that the portrait in our plate was litho- 

 graphed from a drawing of a fine fresh specimen of the plant 

 itself, and is a very correct likeness. 



The Natural Order to which these plants belong, contains 

 Vol. I.—13. 



