showy lady’s slipper

(Cypripedium reginae)

Conservation Status
showy lady’s slipper
 
  IUCN Red List

LC - Least Concern

     
  NatureServe

NNR - Unranked

SNR - Unranked

     
  Minnesota

not listed

     
           
Wetland Indicator Status
     
  Great Plains

FACW - Facultative wetland

     
  Midwest

FACW - Facultative wetland

     
  Northcentral & Northeast

FACW - Facultative wetland

     
           
 
Description
 
 

16 to 40

Showy lady’s slipper is the tallest orchid in Minnesota.

 
     
 

Flower Color

 
 

White and pink

 
     
 

Similar Species

 
     
     
 
Habitat
 
 

Wet. Woods, bogs, swamps.

 
     
 
Ecology
 
 

Flowering

 
 

Early June to Mid-July

 
     
 

Pests and Diseases

 
 

 

 
     
 
Use
 
 

Showy lady’s slipper is Minnesota’s state flower.

 
     
 
Distribution
 
 

Distribution Map

 

Sources

2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 24, 25, 28, 29, 30.

 
  6/11/2023      
         
 

Nativity

 
 

Native

 
         
 

Occurrence

 
 

 

 
         
 
Taxonomy
 
  Kingdom Plantae (green algae and land plants)  
  Subkingdom Viridiplantae (green plants)  
  Infrakingdom Streptophyta (land plants and green algae)  
  Superdivision Embryophyta (land plants)  
  Division Tracheophyta (vascular plants)  
  Subdivision Spermatophytina (seed plants)  
  Class Liliopsida (monocots)  
 

Order

Asparagales (agaves, orchids, irises, and allies)  
 

Family

Orchidaceae (orchids)  
  Subfamily Cypripedioideae (slipper orchids)  
 

Genus

Cypripedium (hardy slipper orchids)  
  Subgenus Irapeana  
  Section Obtusipetala  
       
 

Synonyms

 
 

 

 
       
 

Common Names

 
 

pink and white lady’s slipper

queen’s lady’s-slipper

showy lady’s slipper

showy lady’s-slipper

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
Visitor Photos
 
           
 

Share your photo of this plant.

 
  This button not working for you?
Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com.
Attach one or more photos and, if you like, a caption.
 
 

Bill Reynolds

 
    showy lady’s slipper      
           
 
MinnesotaSeasons.com Photos
 
 

Plant

 
    showy lady’s slipper   showy lady’s slipper  
           
    showy lady’s slipper      
           
 

Flower

 
    showy lady’s slipper   showy lady’s slipper  

 

Camera

     
 
Slideshows
 
  Cypripedium reginae (Showy Ladyslipper)
Allen Chartier
 
  Cypripedium reginae (Showy Ladyslipper)  
  Cypripedium reginae
Joshua Mayer
 
  Cypripedium reginae  
 
About

Showy Ladyslipper

 

 

slideshow

       
 
Visitor Videos
 
       
 

Share your video of this plant.

 
  This button not working for you?
Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com.
Attach a video, a YouTube link, or a cloud storage link.
 
 

 

 
     
     
       
       
 
Other Videos
 
  Showy lady slipper - Cypripedium reginae - flower opening
miroslav147
 
   
 
About

Uploaded on Aug 7, 2008

The showy lady slipper (Cypripedium reginae), also known as the pink-and-white lady slipper or the queen's lady slipper, is a rare orchid found in eastern North America. The plant became the state flower of Minnesota in 1902, and it became protected by state law in 1925. It is illegal to pick or uproot a showy lady slipper flower in Minnesota. This rare plant has vanished from much of its historical range due to habitat loss.

Found in damp woods, bogs, and swamps, the orchid can take 16 years to grow and bloom for the first time. The plants can live for 50 years, and tend to flower in late June and early July. Usually, there are one or two flowers per stem, but there can be three or four. The stem has a hairy appearance, and the "hairs" can cause irritation to some people.

Although this plant was originally chosen as the provincial flower for Prince Edward Island in 1947, it was so rare on the island that another Lady's Slipper, C. acaule (moccasin flower or pink lady slipper), has replaced it as the province's floral emblem.

Cypripedium reginae can be found in Canada from Saskatchewan east to Atlantic Canada, and the eastern United States south to Arkansas and Tennessee.

--------------------------------------

This flower is quite rare, and is considered imperiled (SRANK S2) or critically imperiled (S1) in Arkansas, Connecticut, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, New Brunswick, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Newfoundland and Labrador, North Dakota, Nova Scotia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Prince Edward Island, Saskatchewan, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. Additionally, it is considered vulnerable (S3) in Indiana, Maine, Manitoba, Massachusetts, New York, Quebec, Vermont, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.

It was historically found in Kentucky and North Carolina, but has not been found recently. The only province to rank C. reginae as Apparently Secure (S4) is Ontario.

Showy lady's-slipper is quite sensitive to hydrologic disturbances, and is threatened by wetland draining, habitat destruction and horticultural collectors.

   
  Nancy Today: Showy Lady's Slipper Orchids at Purdon's ASMR
NancyToday
 
   
 
About

Published on Jun 16, 2008

Purdon Conservation Area. Certain conditions are needed for pink lady slipper orchids. They are a rare flower.

   
  Showy Lady's Slipper (Cypripedium Reginae)
kerious
 
   
 
About

Published on May 29, 2012

I found this plant whilst walking through the Rose Lake marsh area in Bath MI. I went back the next day to get some more pictures of it and found that the plant had been eaten, possibly by deer.

   
  Conservation Corps Minnesota project work: Lady Slipper Transplants
Brad Pazian
 
   
 
About

Uploaded on Sep 18, 2011

This video was taken along the Lady Slipper Scenic Byway north of Pennington, MN and south of Blackduck. Due to a road construction project the shoulders of the road are soon to be destroyed. This area, as the name would imply, has a very high concentration of Showy Lady Slippers. So we are digging them up, moving them to a safe location, and eventually when the roadwork is finished putting them back into the ground alongside the road.

   
  Showy Lady Slipper at Horticulture Gardens (Morris, MN on Jun23rd11)
goodnewsminnesota
 
   
 
About

Uploaded on Jan 5, 2012

Music by Jon P. (former resident of Morris)

more..http://events.goodnewsmorris.info/horticulturenight.html

   
  Showy Lady's Slippers
Bryan Wells
 
   
 
About

Published on Jul 8, 2012

A short trip into Sunkhaze Meadows to find a secret location where dozens of Showy Lady's Slippers flourish.

   

 

Camcorder

 
 
Visitor Sightings
 
           
 

Report a sighting of this plant.

 
  This button not working for you?
Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com.
Be sure to include a location.
 
  Bill Reynolds
7/4/2008

Location: Pennington Co.

showy lady's slipper  
           
 
MinnesotaSeasons.com Sightings
 
   

 

 

Binoculars


Last Updated:

About Us | Privacy Policy | Contact Us | © MinnesotaSeasons.com.com. All rights reserved.