Part 30

(Cypripedium spectabile Salisbury, 1791)

WHITE-PETALED, OR SHOWY LADY’S SLIPPER—QUEEN OF THE MOCCASIN-FLOWERS

The specific name, reginæ, refers to the queenly appearance of the white-petaled flowers.

Large bogland orchid, with fleshy-fibrous roots. Frequent. June 15th-July 4th.

=Flowers=, 1-4 terminal, large, showy, white, tinged with deep pink or wine; the most beautiful species among our native Cypripediums. =Labellum= shoe-shaped, inflated, drooping margins of the orifice inflected, crest deeply tinged with pink-purple; interior downy, ornamented with lines of deeper purple. Rarely pure white flowers occur. =Sepals= and =petals= similar, pure white; 2 lower sepals wholly united; side petals narrower than sepals. =Stem=, 1-3 feet high. =Leaves=, 5-7, alternating to top of stem; 3-7 inches long, clasping, 1-4 inches wide; 10-13 plaits; strongly pubescent, produces poisonous effect to susceptible people similar to that caused by Rhus.

Continental Range—From Nova Scotia southward to the higher mountains of North Carolina, and Huntsville, Alabama; westward to Minnesota, Walhalla Mountains, North Dakota, and the Barrens of Kentucky.

New England Range—Maine, frequent; New Hampshire, frequent; Vermont, common; Massachusetts, common; Rhode Island, no stations reported; Connecticut, frequent.

This is the most gorgeous Cypripedium in the world, and without doubt one of the most ancient types of the genus. The stigma is distinctly three-lobed. The plate shows the waxy texture of the white sepals and petals and the wine-colored crest of the shoe-shaped labellum, as well as the highly decorated interior.]

3.—CYPRIPEDIUM CANDIDUM Willdenow, 1805

SMALL WHITE LADY’S SLIPPER—THE PRAIRIE MOCCASIN-FLOWER

The specific name, candidum, refers to the white labellum of this species.

Small, damp swamp-land orchid, with fleshy-fibrous roots. Rare. May 11th-June 29th.

=Flowers= small, solitary, and terminal. =Labellum= shoe-shaped, white, striped with purple interiorly; about 1 inch long; orifice small, with edges inflected. =Sepals= and =petals= lanceolate, greenish-brown and purple; lower sepals imperfectly united. =Stem= leafy, 6-12 inches high, pubescent. =Leaves=, 3-4, sheathing, erect, crowded, acute, 3-5 inches long, ⅔-1½ inches wide, several scales below, 7-9 nerved.

Continental Range—From Connecticut, Pennsylvania westward to Indiana, North Dakota, Columbia Plains, on the Canadian shore of St. Clair River, to the Barrens of northern Kentucky, and Fort Hill, California, which station appears doubtful; more central distribution being from central New York to North Dakota.

New England Range—Recently reported for Connecticut by Mr. A. W. Driggs, of East Hartford.

4.—CYPRIPEDIUM HIRSUTUM Miller, 1768

(Cypripedium pubescens Willdenow, 1805)

LARGE YELLOW LADY’S SLIPPER—DOWNY YELLOW MOCCASIN-FLOWER

The specific name, hirsutum, refers to the whole plant being hirsute, or clothed with hairs.

Large bogland or damp mountainside orchid, with fleshy-fibrous roots. May 19th-June 15th.

=Flowers= dull chrome yellow, 1-3, terminal, shoe-shaped, 1-2½ inches long. =Labellum= shoe-shaped, inflated, convex above, chrome yellow, edges of orifice inflected, lined with downy hairs and dotted lines of carmine. =Sepals= and =petals= graceful, petals very much twisted; lower sepals imperfectly united; siskin-green and brown-purple. =Stem= leafy to top, 1-2½ high, pubescent. =Leaves=, usually 5, broadly ovate, 3-5 inches long, 1½-3 inches wide; 7-9 nerved; plicate and hirsute, said to cause poisonous irritation similar to Rhus. =Roots= used as a nervine.

Continental Range—From the wooded country of the sub-arctic lands in latitude 54°-64° North, southward throughout Canada, New England, to Alabama; westward to North Dakota, Colorado, slightly beyond the Continental Divide in the Rocky Mountain region.

New England Range—Maine, common; New Hampshire, common; Vermont, frequent; Massachusetts, abundant; Rhode Island, rare; Connecticut, rare.

5.—CYPRIPEDIUM PARVIFLORUM Salisbury, 1791

SMALL YELLOW LADY’S SLIPPER—FRAGRANT YELLOW MOCCASIN-FLOWER

The specific name, parviflorum, refers to the small flower of this species.

Small bogland or damp hillside orchid, with fleshy-fibrous roots. May 19th-July 4th.

Flowers small, yellow, solitary, and terminal. Often intergrades with larger yellow species—(C. hirsutum); fragrant, the only Cypripedium in the Atlantic region especially so. Labellum small, ½-1½ inch long, shoe-shaped, drooping lemon-yellow, lined with downy hairs and dotted lines of carmine. Sepals and petals brownish-purple, similar in texture; sepals 2 inches long, graceful, twisted, lower ones imperfectly united; petals glossy and twisting exceedingly. Stem leafy, slender, pubescent, 1-2 feet high. Leaves lanceolate, 3-5 inches long and 1-2¼ inches wide, pubescent, 7-9 nerved; not so villose as C. hirsutum Miller. Said to produce poisonous effect similar to Rhus.