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slipper flower

Scientific Name: Calceolaria

Family: Scrophulariaceae

Category: Dicot

Growth:

Duration:

Other Names:

       

Lady's Slipper Orchid

The Lady's Slipper Orchid is a captivating and widely recognized flowering plant, celebrated for its unique slipper-shaped flowers.

Considerations for Pets

  • Some species have pouches that trap insects.

Scientific Name and Nomenclature

  • Scientific Name: Cypripedium calceolus (as named by Carl Linnaeus in 1753)
  • Family: Orchidaceae (Orchid Family)
  • Synonyms: Cypripedium humile, Fissipes acaulis
  • Other scientific names: Paphiopedilum maudiae

Common Names

  • Lady's Slipper
  • Yellow Lady's-slipper
  • Pink Lady's Slipper
  • Showy Lady's Slipper
  • Queen's Lady Slipper
  • Moccasin Flower
  • Pink Moccasin Flower
  • Stemless Lady's Slipper
  • Woodpecker Nuksack
  • Venus Shoe
  • Slipper Root

Distribution and Habitat

  • Historically found in Britain, though now very rare.
  • The Lady's Slipper Orchid was once quite widespread on the limestone of Westmorland and North Lancashire.
  • Yellow and pink lady's slipper orchids are found in temperate coniferous forests.

Ecological Role

  • In some regions, certain Lady's Slipper species are endangered due to slow growth and other factors.
  • In Minnesota it's illegal to pick or uproot a Showy Lady's Slipper.

Morphological Characteristics

  • Grows up to 30cm tall.
  • The flowers are characterized by slipper-shaped pouches (modified labellums).
  • Flowers can last up to three months.
  • The exotic looking flowers have claret petals that frame a beautiful bright yellow pouch.
  • Pink lady's-slipper produces a pink (occasionally white), 1 to 3 inch long pouch-like flower that grows singly on a stalk emerging from 2 broad, fuzzy leaves.
  • Greater Yellow Lady's-slipper: irregular flower with a 1 to 2 inch yellow pouch and long twisted brownish petals.
  • Some species of orchid bear roots, which resemble paired testes.

Quirky Facts

  • Britain's last remaining lady's slipper orchid sometimes receives 24-hour police protection.
  • The slipper-shaped pouch of the flower traps insects.

Conservation Status

  • It is the state flower of Minnesota and was protected by state law in 1925.
  • Britain's rarest flower is protected by personal security guards.