Photo 40056382, (c) arethusa, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by arethusa

Attribution © arethusa
some rights reserved
Uploaded by arethusa arethusa
Source iNaturalist
Associated observations

Photos / Sounds

What

Large Yellow Lady's-Slipper (Cypripedium parviflorum var. pubescens)

Observer

arethusa

Date

May 2019

Place

Private

Description

A very large population, with well over 200 plants. Varietal identification with this population has proven a challenge, as some flowers exhibit patterning associated with C. parviflorum var. pubescens, while others had dark purple coloration more comparable to the other two varieties: C. parviflorum var. makasin and the nominate variety (which is not known from Vermont). I measured the size of the labella from plants in a few clusters, and found that plants generally fell between 3 and 4.5 cm. The coloration is unusual, and some flowers are uncharacteristically small, but I still conclude that these plants are C. parviflorum var. pubescens, despite their idiosyncrasies. The petals have the patterning associated with C. parviflorum var. pubescens as well (striped, reticulately marked), which further supports this identification.

Photos 2, 3, and 5 show the plants being pollinated.

Associated taxa
Sizes