Who that has lived in the country has not seen and admired the fairy moccasins that might have been worn by some dusky Cinderella of the past, when the Indian roamed unrestrained and unpersecuted over the western prairies ?

A few years ago a certain meadow in Tama county, Iowa, abounded with these little orchids (Cypripedium pubesceus). (Fig. 2.) Now not a single one is to be found. They can, however, be cultivated, requiring a rather cool and damp situation. The blossoms of this species are large and yellow, with a very conspicuous "slipper." Five or six other species are known, all pretty and worthy of cultivation.

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No one who has an eye for the beautiful can help admiring the waxy lady slippers, the pretty grass pink (Calopogon pulchellus), the rare calypso, the handsome wild orchis {Orchis spettabilis), the lovely yellow-fringed Habenaria ciliaris, the purple-fringed Habenaria psycodes and the superb large, purple-fringed Habenaria fimbriata, allbelonging to the orchidaceae.