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THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 



poke or hellebore, with which they are often found in quaking 

 boglands. The terminal flower-cluster contains from one to 

 three and sometimes four large waxen-white blossoms tinged* 

 with a deep rose-purple or magenta. The species ranges fron^ 

 Nova Scotia, south to Alabama; westward from the Maip.€. 

 Woods to Walhalla Mountains, North Dakota, and the Bar- 

 rens of Kentucky. In 1891, A. E. Pratt discovered several 

 fine plants of C. reginae in a bog on the Thibetan frontier of 

 Asia, and sent some of them to the Kew Garden, England, 

 for cultivation. The report O'f both C. ariefinum, and C' 

 reginae^ growing naturally in China, confirms the close rela- 

 tionship often noticed between the flora of eastern North 

 America and that of Asia. 



Our small white moccasin flower (C candidum) was 

 first collected in Pennsylvania, although it is better known as 

 a prairie species to-day. It is found in damp hollows, where 

 it flourishes with the iris, painted-cup, and crimson phlox. The 

 plant is small and the interior of the tiny white slipper is 

 ornamented with crimson spots. The graceful sepals and side 

 petals are of a greenish-crimson color. The species is most 

 nearly allied to Cypripediinn reginae, and is easily cultivated in 

 our gardens. It has a range from Connecticut, westw^ard to 

 North Dakota and Kentucky. 



The golden moccasin flower (C. irapeanum) found in the 

 oak forests of Mexico was considered by Lindley as the 

 largest and most magnificent Cypripediiim in the world. It 

 is designated by the Spanish and Mexican Indians as 'Tleur 

 dele Calavera," and ''Fleur dele tete de mort" — the flower of 

 the head of death. This moccasin flower is rarely collected 

 by the natives, since they are very superstitious and fear the 

 evil spirit, which they believe, haunts its trail. Cypripediinn 

 irapeanum is the only terrestrial species which produces a 

 woody stem. It rises four feet in height and is adorned with a 

 terminal cluster of three to eight large, golden shoe-shaped 



