''Cypripedium parviflorum'', commonly known as yellow lady's slipper or moccasin flower, is a lady's slipper

orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Orchids are cosmopolitan plants that are found in almost every habitat on Eart ...

native to

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

. It is widespread, ranging from

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

south to

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

and

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. It grows in fens, wetlands, shorelines, and damp woodlands.

Description

* Plant: 16 to 60 cm tall, reported to 80 cm elsewhere: stem, bracts, and leaves pubescent; flower stem rises 10 cm above leaves; one flower, rarely two. * Roots: few to many slender roots to 4 cm long on jointed rhizome. * Leaves: ovate lanceolate, cauline, plicate, four to six on blooming plants, from 9 ⨉ 4 cm to 14 ⨉ 5 cm; covered with fine hairs on underside; a few hairs on topside. * Floral bracts: ovate lanceolate bract at base of ovary, 7 ⨉ 2 cm. * Flowers: bright yellow pouch with greenish to reddish sepals and petals; up to 10 cm high ⨉ 10 cm wide. * Sepals: yellowish green with reddish stripes that turn to dots near pouch, fine hairs on back and edges; dorsal sepal ovate lanceolate, slightly concave, 4 ⨉ 2.2 cm;

synsepal A synsepal is a floral structure formed by the partial or complete fusion of two or more sepals. Such sepals are said to be synsepalous or gamosepalous. It is common among lady's slipper orchids (Cypripedioideae) that the two lateral sepals a ...

ellipitic, slightly concave; slight notch at tip, 3.2 ⨉ 1.4 cm. * Petals: linear, acute, yellowish green with reddish stripes that turn to dots at pouch; 5.5 cm long ⨉ 0.7 cm wide; fine hairs on back along well-defined central ridge; few hairs on inner one-third toward pouch. * Lip: bright yellow obovoid (pouch- or slipper-shaped), 3.2 cm wide ⨉ 4.0 cm high; opening 1.2 ⨉ 2.0 cm, with incurved margin; red dotted stripes on veins and faint reddish dots on inside and back of pouch. * Column: light green with red dots at base, 1.5 cm high; two fertile anthers, one to either side; staminode yellow with red dots, arrowhead-shaped, with V form (folded); pollinia yellow sticky masses. * Capsule: ellipsoidal, pubescent, 2.2 to 3 cm long ⨉ 0.6 to 1.3 cm in diameter

Taxonomy

''C. parviflorum'' is a highly variable species, which is a result of both hybridization and

phenotypic plasticity Phenotypic plasticity refers to some of the changes in an organism's behavior, morphology and physiology in response to a unique environment. Fundamental to the way in which organisms cope with environmental variation, phenotypic plasticity encompa ...

. Four varieties are widely recognized. They are: *''C. parviflorum ''var''. exiliens'' Sheviak –

*''C. parviflorum'' var. ''makasin'' (Farwell) Sheviak – commonly called the "northern yellow lady's-slipper"; widely distributed over much of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

and the northern United States *''C. parviflorum'' var. ''parviflorum'' – commonly called the "small yellow lady's-slipper"; southern part of the species range, from eastern

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

and eastern

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

east to

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

and

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

*''C. parviflorum'' var. ''pubescens'' (Willdenow) O. W. Knight – commonly called the "large yellow lady's-slipper"; very widespread across much of United States,

, and St. Pierre & Miquelon; treated by many authors as a distinct species, ''Cypripedium pubescens'' File:Cypripedium parviflorum Orchi 014.jpg, ''C. parviflorum'' var. ''parviflorum'', showing pubescent bract and dark maroon sepals File:Cypripedium parviflorum pubescens.jpg, ''C. parviflorum'' var. ''pubescens'', showing yellow-green sepals spotted with maroon

Distribution and habitat

Distribution

* Newfoundland to British-Columbia, south to Georgia, Arizona, and Washington; Europe. * Newfoundland to Alaska and south to Oregon in the West. * In the East along the Atlantic Coast, it is in every state except Florida and extends across to Louisiana and eastern Texas. * New Mexico state: Catron, Colfax, Grant, Los Alamos, Otero, San Miguel, San Juan and Santa Fe Counties. * Arizona state: Apache, Graham, and Greenlee Counties.

Habitat

''C. parviflorum'' is a more upland plant preferring subacidic to neutral soils. It is found primarily in mesic to dry-mesic upland forests, woodlands with deep humus or layers of leaf litter and shaded boggy habitats, but also in hill prairies and occasionally in wetlands with organic, well-drained, sandy soils. Specifically, in fir, pine, and aspen forest between , it prefers moderate shade to nearly full sun. It may be present in mountain meadows and on timbered slopes, as well as dripping seeps on steep to moderately sloped canyon walls.

References

External links

* * parviflorum Orchids of Canada Orchids of the United States Orchids of California Orchids of Kentucky Orchids of Maryland Flora of the Eastern United States Flora of the Western United States Flora of Alaska Flora of the Appalachian Mountains Flora of the Rocky Mountains Flora of Saint Pierre and Miquelon Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Plants described in 1791 Taxa named by Richard Anthony Salisbury Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Cypripedioideae-stub