Mountain Ladyslipper
We always feel lucky to come across mountain ladyslippers in bloom. The encounter is never in the valley or in the open grasslands. We have spotted them at Lac le Jeune, at Paul Lake, in the hills above Shuswap Lake, along the Adams River, and in the subalpine zone in June – July. It is easy to walk by the flowers if they are among the green foliage of herbs and shrubs alongside a trail, so it helps to know where and when they may emerge.
- Cypripedeum montanum is a member of the orchid family.
- One to three flowers stand at the top of the stem.
- The lower petals are white (sometimes with purple stripes) and “pouch-shaped” (saccate). The upper sepals and petals tend to be brown/copper colored, long and twisted.
- The flowers are very distinctive making it easy to identify.
- The plant grows 15 to 50 cm tall. Pleated (plicate) leaves alternate around the stem and enfold the stem near the base. Leaves are “egg-shaped to elliptic-lanceolate” (Eflora BC).
- Stems are hairy
- This herb has thick fibrous roots and spreads through rhizomes
More Details:
- After flowering, erect narrow, ribbed capsules form with the fruits/seeds inside.
- We have usually encountered the flowers in the montane zone in filtered light locations (not north aspect slopes) where the soil does not dry out early, but not in a wet zone either.