ROYAL FAMILY OF ORCHIDS. 



89 



about even the lowliest member of this wonderful 

 family. In general structure the orchid resembles 

 the lily; both have parallel-veined leaves and a six- 

 parted perianth. The distinguishing feature of the 

 orchid is the combined stamen and pistil called the 

 column, and the curiously twisted petal known as the 

 lip, which is sometimes beautifully variegated and 

 often deeply fringed or spurred; this is designed to 

 attract the bee or moth and secure the cross-fertiliza- 

 tion on which the future of the plant depends. 



Perhaps the most familiar of our orchids is the 

 common lady's slipper, found in abundance in many 

 of our woods. It is a beautiful flower, possibly less 

 highly prized because we can bring home an armful 

 instead of being forced to content ourselves with a 

 single specimen. The town was once so fortunate as 

 to possess a station for its near relative, Cypripedium 

 spectabile or the showy lady's slipper, a superb flower 

 whose pink and white variegated blossoms are quite 

 equal to those of the tropical orchids. A few years 

 ago this glorious creature grew on a hill slope at the 

 Deacon Benjamin Farnum place at West Concord, 

 now descended to his son, Charles H. Farnum. The 

 writer well remembers the first visit of the Wild 

 Flower Club to this place, June 22, 1896, and how 



