CYPRIPEDIUMS 



No genus or race of Orchids that has been brought under 

 cultivation has yielded so readily, and we may add, so 

 strikingly, to its influence as Cypripedium. This is not only 

 apparent in the results of hybridization, but also in the species 

 themselves, especially in those that have been longest under 

 the cultivator's care. The most obvious effects of cultural 

 influence have been the development of more robust foliage 

 of a brighter colour; the normally one-flowered scape occasion- 

 ally becomes two-flowered; the flowers are often larger and 

 modified in colour (Veitch). Generally they are easily culti- 

 vated, they flower freely and may readily be induced to mature 

 seeds from which plants can be raised. The species, with few 

 exceptions, readily intercross, and consequently an enormous 

 number of hybrids have been raised artificially. Two of the 

 three represented in the plate are true species, the third, 

 EVENOR, is a garden hybrid. Recently the genus has been 

 divided by botanists into four, viz.:— Cypripedium, Phragmo- 

 pedilum, Paphiopedilum, and Selenipedium. 



