Part 31

Continental Range—In company with other species of New England Cypripedium; from Newfoundland, British Columbia, southward to Georgia; westward to the sub-humid regions of Kansas, extending slightly over the Continental Divide in Rocky Mountain region. Ascends 4000 feet altitude in Virginia.

New England Range—Maine, frequent; New Hampshire, infrequent; Vermont, frequent; Massachusetts, frequent; Rhode Island, not reported; Connecticut, rather rare.

6.—CYPRIPEDIUM ACAULE Aiton, 1789

TWO-LEAVED LADY’S SLIPPER—STEMLESS PINK MOCCASIN-FLOWER

The specific name, acaule, refers to the lowly and humble (acaulescent), growth of the species, since the flower is stemless, arising from a short or subterranean stem.

Sphagnous bogland, conifer or mixed woodland orchid with fleshy-fibrous roots. May 19th-June 20th.

Flowers large, pink-purple, solitary, terminal, stemless. Labellum shoe-shaped, 2-2½ inches long, bi-lobed, pendulous, with closed fissure down its whole length, edges inflected, downy interiorly; pink-purple with darker veining of purple. (Rarely pure white flowers occur, with chrome yellow sepals and petals.) Sepals and petals brown-purple and green, shorter than labellum; two lower sepals wholly united. =Stem= very short, obscured by the basal leaves. =Scape= naked, 8-18 inches high, single-flowered, terminal. Few instances where two flowers or buds in embryo have occurred. =Leaves= 2, sheathing the base of peduncle, oblanceolate 3-5 nerved, hirsute and thickened; 6-8 inches long, 2-3 inches wide, resembling the leaves of Orchis spectabilis Linnæus.

Continental Range—From Newfoundland, and Fort Franklin, in latitude 54°-64° North; southward to Lookout Mountain, Mentone, and Cullman, Alabama; westward to northern Indiana, Minnesota, and Kentucky.

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

Showing the structure of the pendulous and bi-lobed labellum, and the processes of the sepals and petals. The lower sepals are wholly united in this species, and less grace or undulation appears than in the Yellow Cypripediums.]

Orchis

Linnæus, 1753

SHOWY ORCHIS

The generic name, Orchis, refers to ὄρχις, the son of a rural deity of classical mythology, in whose memory these flowers were designated.

Plants with biennial roots. =Anther= 1. =Labellum= connate with base of the column; produced below into a spur. =Sepals= separate, free to the base, similar in texture to the petals. =Flowers= small, delicate white and rose-purple, fragrant; in a short terminal spike. =Anther-sacs= divergent; pollinia granulose, 1 in each anther-sac, which is attached at the base to a viscid disk or gland. =Glands= enclosed in a pouch. =Stem=, scape-like, 5-angled, 4-12 inches high. =Leaves= 2, oblong-obovate, shining, basal, with several bracts above. =Roots= fleshy-fibrous or tuberous.

Continental Range—There are three reported species of this genus for the Continent. Orchis, as a genus, contains 80 or more species ranging throughout the temperate regions of Europe, Asia, Northern Africa, Canaries, and North America.

North American species 3 New England species 2 Hoosac Valley species 1

New England species:

1. O. spectabilis Linnæus, 1753. 2. O. rotundifolia (Pursh) Lindley, 1814-1835.

1.—ORCHIS SPECTABILIS Linnæus, 1753

SHOWY ORCHIS

The specific name, spectabilis, refers to the beautiful spectacle of a group of these plants in bloom.

Small, damp woodland orchid with fleshy-fibrous roots. April 19th-June 19th.

=Flowers= fragrant, about 1 inch long, violet-purple mixed with rose-purple and white; 3-6 flowered in a bracted raceme. =Labellum= divergent, attached to a spur, purple and white. =Sepals= and =petals= arching in a galea. =Glands= enclosed in a pouch or hooded fold. Stem, scape-like, 4-12 inches high, thick, 5-angled. =Leaves= 2, basal with 1-2 scales below, and foliaceous bracts above sheathing the seed-capsules.

Continental Range—From New Brunswick, Ontario, southward to Georgia and Alabama; westward to the Rocky Mountains. Ascends 4000 feet altitude in Virginia.

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

The first orchis of the season, showing the hooded fold above the orifice of the spur and the processes of the flowers on the bracted scape.]

2.—ORCHIS ROTUNDIFOLIA (Pursh) Lindley, 1814-1835