IF THE forty seven species and varieties of orchids said to have been found in New England, not all are showy. A few have flowers which have no special attraction so far as color is concerned. The botanist would be interested in such, but the ordinary cultivator who grows them for their display of color in flowers and foliage would not prize them. But some of them are very beautiful. The genus cypripedium (Lady's-Slipper) is one of the most interesting, and New England has five charming species.

The largest and most showy of these is the C. specctabile. Not only is it the finest of the five, but it is the most beautiful of the genus. The plant is not uncommon in bogs from Maine to Wisconsin, in Canada, and south along the Alleghanies. In the east it is seldom seen, except in swamps where the arbor vitiae and tamarack abound, but in Wisconsin it is sometimes found on higher ground. In New England and also in Michigan it is frequently found among the poison sumac {Rhus venenata) and on this account it is more difficult to obtain. It is not a difficult plant to grow when plenty of peat or leaf-mould is placed about its roots. A gravelly or loamy soil is not so good as clay next to the roots, but with peat it may be grown in any well-drained, moist soil, in the shade. In wet bogs it is frequently found in the open sunlight, but such plants are not so large as where it is shaded, at least a part of the time. The flowers are an inch or more wide. The lip, which, by the way, is the largest part of the flower of a Lady's Slipper, is a crimped, inflated sac, somewhat egg-shaped, pink, purple and white in color.

There are frequently several stalks from one plant and sometimes three, rarely more flowers on a stalk.

The Stemless Lady's Slipper (C. acaule) is perhaps the most abundant and the hardest to transplant, yet in well-drained loamy soil and in the shade it is not difficult to grow. The flower, which is single, is variable in color from a deep rose purple to almost pure white. Its habitat is generally in dry, loamy soil under pines, though frequently found in sphagnum swamps.

We have two yellow Lady's Slippers, the larger C. pubescens and the smaller C. parviflorum. The former is found in moist loamy soil along low mountain brooks or swamps. The flowers are pale yellow and nearly two inches long. It is one of the easiest wild flowers to transplant and seems to thrive in almost any soil. It may be transplanted in spring, in autumn, or even when in flower. The small yellow species, C parviflorum, is a more local plant, growing mostly in bogs among arbor vitae and tamarack. It is smaller, has fragrant flowers, and its sepals and petals are of a darker purplish tint than in C, pubescens. The lip is pale yellow and much smaller in the true type than in pubescens. In some localities the plant is very dwarf, growing in little clumps scarcely eight inches high, with dainty little flowers scarcely a quarter as large as an average sized pubescens, while in other localities it grows two feet high. In the taller plants there is more variation in the size of its flowers. Some are quite small, while others are nearly as large as those in pubescens. This plant also likes peat or leaf-mould about its roots, but in any moist loamy soil it will thrive.

If the soil is quite moist it may be set in the open sunlight.

The rarest of the tribe is the little Ram's-Head (C. arietinum). This also occurs in northern New England and occasionally, thence westward as far as Wisconsin. It is abundant in numerous swamps in Canada, but we believe it has not been reported in New England south of Vermont. Though not so showy as some, the small pink, purple and white veined Up is quite interesting. When transplanted into moist loamy soil in the shade it will thrive and even increase in size and in the number of its flowering stalks. A mixture of peat is very beneficial.

Southwick, Mass. F. H. Horsford.