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BRITISH WILD FLOWERS. 
GENUS XVII. 
THE LADY’S SLIPPER. (Cypripedium, Lin .) 
Lin. Syst. GYNANDRIA DIANDRIA. 
Generic Character. —Lip inflated, sometimes saccate. Column terminated at the back by a petaloid lobe representing a barren stamen, and 
dividing the anthers. The two anterior sepals often united. ( R. Br.) 
Description, &c. —There is only one British species in this genus. The name of Cypripedium is compounded 
of two Greek words, and signifies, literally, Venus’s Slipper. 
1. —THE COMMON LADY’S SLIPPER. (Cypripedium calceolus, Lin.) 
Engravings. —Eng. Bot., t. 1 ; 2nd ed., t. 1224 ; and our fig. 5, tical, obtuse, channelled. Lip somewhat compressed, shorter than the 
in PL 57. petals. (Smith.) 
Specific Character. —Stem leafy. Appendage to the column ellip- 
Description, &c. —This beautiful plant, though rare in England, is yet a true native ; and it is found in 
mountainous woods and thickets in the north of England. It flowers in June, and like all the orchideous 
plants, it is a perennial; it differs, however, from most of the other British kinds in being without tubers at the 
base of the stem, and in its flowers being solitary. 
CHAPTER LXXV. 
THE MELANTHUS FAMILY. (Melanthaceas, R Br.) 
Character of the Order. —Perianthium inferior, petaloid, in six | trifid or three-parted. Stigmas undivided. Capsule generally divisible 
pieces, or, in consequence of the cohesion of their claws, tubular ; the i into three pieces; sometimes with a loculicidal dehiscence. Seeds with 
pieces generally involute in aestivation. Stamens six. Anthers a membranous testa. Albumen dense, fleshy. (R. Br.) 
mostly turned outwards. Ovarium three-celled, many-seeded. Style 
Description, &c. —The plants belonging to this order have all leaves sheathing at the base, with parallel 
veins, and some of them are bulbous, though others have only fibrous roots without bulbs. There is only 
one ornamental genus of British plants included in this order, namely the Colchicum ; the other British plant, 
the Scotch Asphodel (Tolfieldia palustris , Huds.), being a little insignificant plant, entirely without beauty. 
GENUS I. 
THE COLCHICUM, OR MEADOW-SAFFRON. (Colchicum, Lin.) 
Lin. Syst. HEXANDRIA TRIGYNIA. 
Generic Character. —Perianthium tubular, long, with a campanulate six-parted limb. Stamens inserted in the orifice of the tube. Anthers 
oblong, versatile. Ovary one. Styles three, very long. Follicles three, inflated, erect, united at the base, many-seeded. (Lindley.) 
Description, &c. —There is is only one British species. The name of Colchicum is derived from Colchis, 
near which city the species was found that was first described. 
