Summary ²

Basic Info
• From the orchid family

• It is a wild flower

• Endangered species because they take a long time to grow

Identification
• Plant has only two leaves
• Green and branch out from center of plant
• Single flower stalk grows from the center
• Flower is pink and people think it looks like a slipper – that is why it is named
lady slipper
• Slipper grows about three inches long
• Flower is closed tightly except for a small opening in the front

Niche
• Grow in shady areas under big trees
• Deer and insects feed off a pink lady slipper
• It needs the help of a fungus to reproduce
• Only the bumble bees can push their way inside the slipper because it smells
sweet and they think it is nectar but it is not
• When the bees get inside they realize there is no nectar and they can’t get out
without pushing the stamen and getting covered in pollen and when they leave
they spread the pollen and it makes new flowers

Sources and Credits

1. (c) redsquirrel4321, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
2. Adapted by redsquirrel4321 from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cypripedium_acaule

More Info

• iNat taxon page
• Biodiversity Heritage Library
• BOLD Systems BIN search
• eFloras.org
• Flora of North America (beta)
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
• Go Botany
• HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants
• IPNI (with links to POWO, WFO, and BHL)
• Maryland Biodiversity Project
• NatureServe Explorer 2.0
• SEINet Symbiota portals
• Tropicos
• USDA PLANTS database
• VASCAN by Canadensys
• World Flora Online

iNat Map