Cypripedium californicum

Cypripedium californicum, the California lady's slipper, is a member of the orchid genus Cypripedium, the lady's slipper orchids, native to the western United States.

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

Description

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.[2]

Distribution and habitat

it has a very restricted range and can only be found in the mountains of southwestern Oregon (including the Kalmiopsis Wilderness) and northern California.[3][4] It prefers the margins of woodland streams in open coniferous forests.

References
  1. Rankou, H. (2014) Cypripedium californicum. In: IUCN 2014. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.1.
  2. "Cypripedium californicum in Flora of North America @ efloras.org". www.efloras.org.
  3. Cypripedium californicum A. Gray. California lady's slipper. US Department of Agriculture
  4. Biota of North America Program, county distribution map. bonap.net
  • Cribb, P. & Green, P. (1997). The Genus Cypripedium (a botanical monograph). Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, Timber Press ISBN 0-88192-403-2
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