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Cypripedium calceolus L.

Lady's-slipper orchid (en), Sabot de vénus (fr), Pantoufle-de-Notre-Dame (fr), Cypripède sabot-de-Vénus (fr), Sabot-de-Vénus (fr)

Species

Angiosperms > Asparagales > Orchidaceae > Cypripedium

Characteristics

Plants 20-45 cm tall, with a somewhat stout rhizome. Stem erect, with glandular hairs, with several sheaths at base and 3 or 4 leaves above middle. Leaf blade elliptic or ovate-elliptic, rarely ovate-lanceolate, 7-16 × 4-7 cm, abaxially sparsely pubescent especially on veins and toward base, minutely ciliate, apex acute or shortly acuminate. Inflorescence terminal, usually 1-or 2-flowered; floral bracts foliaceous, elliptic-lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, 4-6(-10) × 1.5-4 cm; pedicel and ovary ca. 3 cm, with short glandular hairs. Flowers with maroon sepals and petals and yellow lip. Dorsal sepal ovate or ovate-lanceolate, 2.5-5 × 0.8-1.5 cm, abaxial midvein sparsely pubescent, apex acuminate or cuspidate-acuminate; synsepal similar to dorsal sepal, apex shallowly 2-lobed. Petals twisted, linear or linear-lanceolate, 3-5 × 0.4-0.6 cm, pubescent toward adaxial base and on abaxial veins; lip deeply pouched, ellipsoid, 3-4 × 2-3 cm, outside glabrous, inner bottom hairy; incurved lateral lobes 3-4 mm wide. Staminode suboblong-elliptic, 7-10 × 5-7 mm, abaxially carinate, base with a stalk ca. 1 mm, apex obtuse. Fl. Jun-Jul. 2n = 20.
More
Stem leafy, 2–8 dm; lvs ± sheathing, oval to lance-ovate, 6–20 cm, half as wide; fls 1 or 2, each subtended by an erect foliaceous bract; sep and lateral pet greenish-yellow to purplish-brown; upper sep ovate to lance-ovate, sharply acute, 3–8 cm; united lower sep somewhat narrower, 2-toothed at the tip; lateral pet lanceolate, 3–8 cm, usually twisted; lip yellow, usually veined with purple, 2–5 cm; 2n=20. Circumboreal, s. in Amer. to S.C., La., and N.M. May–July. Two vars. in N. Amer., partly isolated by differences in pollinators associated with fl-size.
Life form perennial
Growth form herb
Growth support free-standing
Foliage retention deciduous
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination entomogamy
Spread anemochory
Mature width (meter) 1.5 - 0.1
Mature height (meter) 0.2 - 0.5
Root system creeping-root rhizome
Rooting depth (meter) -
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color
Blooming months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Fruit color -
Fruiting months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway c3

Environment

Light 4-6
Soil humidity 4-7
Soil texture -
Soil acidity 4-8
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 5-9

Usage

Uses medicinal
Edible -
Therapeutic use Headache (unspecified), Aphrodisiac (unspecified), Nerves (unspecified), Nervine (unspecified), Soporific (unspecified), Stimulant (unspecified), Tonic (unspecified), Anodyne (unspecified), Spasm (unspecified), Sudorific (unspecified), Medicine (unspecified), Sedative (unspecified)
Human toxicity skin-irritating (root)
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Can be grown by divisions.
Mode divisions
Germination duration (days) 30 - 365
Germination temperacture (C°) 18 - 21
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment -
Minimum temperature (C°) -29
Optimum temperature (C°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Images

Habit

Cypripedium calceolus habit picture by Lennaert Steen (cc-by-sa)
Cypripedium calceolus habit picture by François Strauss (cc-by-sa)
Cypripedium calceolus habit picture by Jacques Zuber (cc-by-sa)

Leaf

Cypripedium calceolus leaf picture by Christophe Bourdillon (cc-by-sa)
Cypripedium calceolus leaf picture by Christian Laugwitz (cc-by-sa)
Cypripedium calceolus leaf picture by agatha baumgartner (cc-by-sa)

Flower

Cypripedium calceolus flower picture by Alex (cc-by-sa)
Cypripedium calceolus flower picture by michel avit (cc-by-sa)
Cypripedium calceolus flower picture by Daniel Barthelemy (cc-by-sa)

Fruit

Cypripedium calceolus fruit picture by Lisbeth PEYRE (cc-by-sa)

Distribution

Cypripedium calceolus world distribution map, present in Austria, Bulgaria, Belarus, Switzerland, Chile, China, Czech Republic, Germany, Denmark, Algeria, Spain, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Montenegro, Norway, Poland, Korea (Democratic People's Republic of), Romania, Russian Federation, Sweden, and Ukraine

Conservation status

Cypripedium calceolus threat status: Least Concern

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:320700-2
WFO ID wfo-0000935209
COL ID 33J4F
BDTFX ID 20864
INPN ID 94041
Wikipedia (EN) Link
Wikipedia (FR) Link

Synonyms

Calceolus alternifolius Calceolus marianus Cypripedium atsmori Cypripedium boreale Cypripedium cruciatum Cypripedium calceolus f. biflorum Cypripedium calceolus f. triflorum Cypripedium alternifolium Cypripedilon marianus Cypripedium ferrugineum Cypripedium calceolus var. viridiflora Cypripedium guttatum subsp. microsaccos Cypripedium calceolus var. citrina Cypripedium microsaccos Cypripedium calceolus var. bellum Cypripedium calceolus
WorldFloraDB 2024