The choice was a very wise and appropriate one. The flower itself is very beautiful, and peculiarly adapted to the purposes of artistic decoration. It has already been utilized in three instances of an official character, with success and approval. The Minnesota state building at the Columbian Exposition was beautifully decorated with it. It is prominently incorporated into the state flag, and adorns the medal conferred by the state upon the defenders of Fort Ridgely. The botanical name of the flower is _Cypripedium_, taken from Greek words meaning the shoe of Venus. It is popularly called "Lady's Slipper," "Moccasin Flower" and "Indian Shoe." About twenty-five species of _cypripedium_ are known, belonging to the north temperate zone and reaching south into Mexico and northern India. Six species occur in the northern United States and Canada, east of the Rocky Mountains, all of these being found in Minnesota, and about a dozen species occur on this continent. They are perennial herbs, with irregular flowers, which grow singly or in small clusters, the colors of some of which are strikingly beautiful. The species adopted by the women of the State of Minnesota is the _Cypripedium Spectabile_, or the showy lady slipper. The ladies naturally desired that their choice should be ratified by the state legislature, and one of their number prepared a report of their doings, in a petition to that body, asking its approval. Whoever drew the petition named the flower chosen by the ladies as "_Cypripedium Calceolous_," a species which does not grow in Minnesota, but is purely of European production. The petition was presented to the senate on the fourth day of February, 1893. The journal of the senate shows the following record, which is found on page 167: "Mr. Dean asked the unanimous consent to present a petition from the Women's Auxiliary to the World's Fair, relative to the adoption of a state flower and emblem, which was read. "Mr. Dean offered the following concurrent resolution, and moved its adoption: "'Be it resolved by the senate, the house of representatives concurring, that the wild Lady Slipper, or Moccasin Flower ('_Cypripedium Calceolous_'), be, and the same is hereby, designated and adopted as the state flower or emblem of the State of Minnesota,' which was adopted." In the Legislative Manual of 1893 appears, on page 606, the following: "THE STATE FLOWER. "On April 4, 1893 [should be February], a petition from the Women's Auxiliary to the World's Fair was presented to the senate, relative to the adoption of a state flower. By resolution of the senate, concurred in by the house (?), the Wild Lady Slipper, or Moccasin Flower (_Cypripedium_) was designated as the state flower or floral emblem of the State of Minnesota."