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. 
