Page authors: Don Knoke, David Giblin
Cypripedium parviflorum
yellow lady's-slipper
Specimens
Photos

Distribution: Occurring east of the Cascades crest in Washington; Alaska to California, east to the Rocky Mountains; throughout most of Canada and the central, southeastern, and northeastern regions of the U.S.

Habitat: Fens, wetlands, shorelines, and damp woodlands, often where calcareous.

Flowers: May-June

Origin: Native

Growth Duration: Perennial

Conservation Status: Sensitive in Washington (WANHP)

Description:
General:

Sparsely pubescent, perennial herbs, the stems 1.5-4 dm. tall, glandular, leafy throughout.

Leaves:

Leaves alternate, broadly elliptic to elliptic-lanceolate, 6-17 cm. long and up to 7 cm. wide, sessile and slightly sheathing.

Flowers:

Flower solitary, terminal, subtended and usually exceeded by an erect, leaf-like bract; sepals and petals greenish-yellow to purplish-brown, wavy-margined, the upper sepal the largest, 2.5-4 cm. long, the lower pair completely fused; 2 small petals narrower and longer than the sepals; the third petal (lip) pouch-like, 2-3 cm. long, yellow, often purplish-dotted around the orifice; fertile stamens 2, the third sterile stamen petal-like, up to 10 mm. long, triangular, lobed at the base.

Fruits:

Capsule.

Accepted Name:
Cypripedium parviflorum Salisb.
Publication: Trans. Linn. Soc. London, Bot. 1: 77, plate 2, fig. 2. 1791.

Synonyms & Misapplications:
(none provided)
Infraspecies:
Additional Resources:

PNW Herbaria: Specimen records of Cypripedium parviflorum in the Consortium of Pacific Northwest Herbaria database.

WA Flora Checklist: Cypripedium parviflorum checklist entry.

OregonFlora: Cypripedium parviflorum information.

E-Flora BC: Cypripedium parviflorum atlas page.

CalPhotos: Cypripedium parviflorum photos.

USDA Plants: Cypripedium parviflorum information.

19 photographs:
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