''Cypripedium californicum'', the California lady's slipper, is a member of the orchid genus '' Cypripedium'', the lady's slipper orchids, native to the western United States.

Description

It often grows in very large clumps and each stem can bear up to 21 flowers. It can grow to be up to over a meter in height and has alternate, plicate leaves the length of the stem. The

petal Petals are modified Leaf, leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often advertising coloration, brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''c ...

s and sepals tend to be greenish-brown while the small pouch is pure white with occasional pink spots.

Distribution and habitat

it has a very restricted range and can only be found in the mountains of southwestern Oregon (including the Kalmiopsis Wilderness) and northern California.Biota of North America Program, county distribution map
bonap.net It prefers the margins of woodland streams in open

coniferous Conifers are a group of cone-bearing seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single extant class, Pinopsida. All extant ...

forests.

References

* (1997). ''The Genus Cypripedium'' (a botanical monograph). Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, Timber Press

External links

*
Jepson Flora Project: ''Cypripedium californicum''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2704503 californicum Endemic orchids of the United States Orchids of California Flora of Oregon Flora of the Cascade Range Flora of the Klamath Mountains Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Natural history of the California Coast Ranges Plants described in 1868