Cypripedium californicum

California lady's slipper
1891 illustration from
Curtis's Botanical Magazine"
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Orchidaceae
Subfamily: Cypripedioideae
Genus: Cypripedium
Species: C. californicum
Binomial name
Cypripedium californicum
A.Gray (1868)

The California lady's slipper (Cypripedium californicum) is a member of the orchid genus Cypripedium, the lady's slipper orchids. It is native to the western United States, where it has a very restricted range and can only be found in the mountains of southwestern Oregon (Kalmiopsis Wilderness) and northern California.[2][3] It prefers the margins of woodland streams in open coniferous forests.

It often grows in very large clumps and each stem can bear up to 21 flowers. It can grow to be up to over a meter in height and has alternate, plicate leaves the length of the stem. The petals and sepals tend to be greenish-brown while the small pouch is pure white with occasional pink spots.

Blooming in Klamath Mountains, Del Norte County, California.

References

  1. ↑ Rankou, H. (2014) Cypripedium californicum. In: IUCN 2014. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.1.
  2. ↑ Cypripedium californicum A. Gray. California lady's slipper. US Department of Agriculture
  3. ↑ Biota of North America Program, county distribution map. bonap.net
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