Cypripedium montanum

Cypripedium montanum, the Mountain Lady's Slipper is well named, usually growing at higher elevations. Its range is limited to the northwest, California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, California, British Columbia and Alberta. It usually grows under light canopy or at the edges of the canopy, though we have seen it growing in full sun.

The color of its sepals and petals varies from dark mahogany to greenish with mahogany markings. The pouch is always white but often has a red-purple blush around the opening and deep reddish-purple veins inside the pouch that show through to the outside (fma. welchii) and occasionally one finds an albino form that is pure green and white (fma. praetertinctum).

There is one natural hybrid of Cypripediium montanum with Cypripedium parviflorum, the Columbia Hybrid Lady's Slipper, Cyp. x columbianum. The color of the pouch ranges from off white to a pale yellow, neither the white pouch of Cyp.montanum nor the bright yellow pouch of Cyp. parviflorum. It is fairly common and often mistaken for a pale Cyp. parviflorum.

Posted on 27 de junho de 2019, 03:13 AM by ronaldhanko