MOUNTAIN LADYSLIPPER 



Cypripedium montanum Douglas 



One lovely morning in early summer we left camp near Radium 

 Hot Springs in the Columbia River Valley in British Columbia, our 

 two saddle horses harnessed to the buckboard, the saddles securely tied 

 behind the seat. After a drive of seven miles the horses were saddled, 

 and we followed a disused trail four or five miles back into the range 

 on the eastern side of the valley. There were many flowers, the dense 

 growth of trees and shrubs keeping out the hot rays of the sun and 

 conserving the moisture. Just as we turned across a partially shaded 

 flat on the side of the little canyon we had been traversing, a won- 

 derful sight burst upon us. Scattered among the low-growing bushes 

 were great clumps of this splendid orchid in the perfection of bloom. 

 A beautiful plant about eighteen inches tall, with a delicate perfume 

 quite its own — no wonder that we quickly dismounted to pay hom- 

 age to this queen of the forest. 



Never before had we seen such a flower, and no book upon the 

 plants of the Canadian Rockies mentioned its occurrence there. A 

 bunch carried to camp survived many days, long after the sketch 

 was completed. 



The mountain ladyslipper is frequently found in the mountains of 

 California, and northward along the coast as far as Vancouver, and 

 northeastward along the Rocky Mountains to Saskatchewan. 



PLATE I 



