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July 13, 2005 : Cypripedium reginae
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Keywords: Orchidaceae | Cypripedium reginae Walt.
I've chosen a plant that means something to me on a personal level for this, the 100th entry on Botany Photo of the Day. When I was a child, my parents would occasionally take my siblings and me to see natural “exclamation points”. Swarms of fireflies. Great grey owls. And, every summer, lady's slippers.
Cypripedium reginae is commonly known as the showy lady's slipper. This photograph was taken last summer in Manitoba, near the Mars Hill Wildlife Management Area. This area includes sand hills deposited from the retreat of the glacial Lake Agassiz, sadly becoming degraded due to overuse. Typical to what I've observed in other locations with showy lady's slippers, this plant was growing in soil that had a high water table and (I'm speculating) subsurface water movement.
Unfortunately, its showiness leads some people to attempt to transplant it from the wild into their gardens, thereby reducing the already declining natural populations (due to habitat loss). Showy lady's slipper is available from some nurseries, so transplanting from the wild is absolutely unnecessary for those desiring it. Unlike some of its relatives, Cypripedium reginae can be readily grown in gardens with the right conditions - cool, moist, rich soil for its roots, but with a few hours of direct sunlight a day for the aboveground part of the plant.
The Botanical Dermatology Database entry on orchids cites studies that indicate handling Cypripedium reginae can cause an allergic contact dermatitis, similar in effect to the dermatitis caused by poison ivy. While I generally wish well of others, a part of me hopes that some of the people ignorantly transplanting plants from the wild have discovered this about showy lady's slippers the hard way.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at July 13, 2005 12:25 AM
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Posted by: Jenn at July 13, 2005 11:04 AM
what wonderful picture....I appreciate the picture and the enlightening discription.
thank you
Posted by: Janice at July 13, 2005 11:50 AM
Jenn, you might want to read “Harvey's Electronic Orchid Notebook” for growing tips with Cypripedium reginae. My understanding is that it can indeed withstand bog conditions, but it is perhaps not ideal. The berm of a created bog sounds like it should be fine, though.
Janice, thank you.
Posted by: Daniel Mosquin 
at July 13, 2005 12:14 PM
Thank you!
Posted by: Jenn at July 14, 2005 9:21 AM
When I was a boy in Massachusetts, we lived near a marshy woodland area where these grow. I was told it was a crime to disturb them. Is that true?
Posted by: Roger at July 15, 2005 8:40 AM
Hi: My husband and I go every spring on a lady slipper hunt, his Grandfather always took him, we just love them, funny, I've never thought of taking my camera, I guess nothing compares to seeing them in the wild. I was un-aware that you could buy them, I have the right conditions for their growth, could you tell me where I might purchase a lady slipper, it would make a great birthday present for my husband. Thank-you in advance,
Posted by: Sharon Coombs at May 21, 2006 6:09 AM
Hello Sharon - I like to keep BPotD as non-commercial as possible, so I'd prefer sourcing plants discussions to be posted to the garden's discussion forums - there is an area for posting questions about sourcing plants.
Posted by: Daniel Mosquin at May 22, 2006 12:03 AM
One more note for those of you who like lady slippers so much that you want to try to rip them out of the ground and bring them home...
they are very rare and in the wild it takes some 17 years of growth before they bloom. For them to germinate, they require very exacting conditions, including the presence of a fungus in the soil.
Don't rip them out of the ground, not only is it illegal, but they are not tolerant of being moved and will certainly die.
Better to buy your lady slippers from a company which cultures them in-vitro like "The Vermont Lady Slipper Company". They are biologists (husband and wife team) and they have sped up the blooming process to six years (over the 17 years that wild ladyslipper orchids require).
They have gotten the business of reproducing these rare terrestrial orchids down to a science! Not only that, but they can export them and will produce the CITES paperwork for you. I have just bought my first two orchids from them and have just planted them today!
Posted by: matamoros at November 24, 2007 10:18 AM
Hi my name is Michael.C.Mason and I have seen one of these plants Cypripedium Reginae today June 29th 2009 when out on a walking trail with my family. I managed to take a few pictures on my blackberry, I wish I had taken my camera (to have better resoultion) but I think I managed to take a few good pictures. I do not know much about this plant however looking at it in the wild seemed that it was kind of special.I decided to look for the name under Irises(Since it looked slighlty like a bearded Iris) as I thought perhaps it was a wild kind of Iris, then tried Wildflowers and I found it under that category. I am just happy to share this information.
Posted by: Michael.C.Mason at June 29, 2009 6:41 PM
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Do you think they might do well if I put them on a berm in a created bog? Or might that be too much water?