Cypripedium
Cypripedium | |
---|---|
Showy lady's slipper (Cypripedium reginae) | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Monocots |
Order: | Asparagales |
Family: | Orchidaceae |
Subfamily: | Cypripedioideae |
Genus: | Cypripedium L., 1753 |
Type species | |
Cypripedium calceolus L., 1753
| |
Synonyms[1] | |
Cypripedium is a
Most of Cypripedium grow in temperate and subtropical climates, but some species grow in the tundra in Alaska and Siberia, which is an unusually cold habitat for orchids. Other species occur well into tropical areas such as Honduras and Myanmar.[1]
Some of the northern species can withstand extreme cold, growing under the snow and blooming when the snow melts. But, in the wild, some have become rare and close to extinction, due to an ever shrinking natural habitat and over-collection, people prizing the flowers for their beauty. Several species are legally protected in some regions. In the late 20th century, only a single known plant of Cypripedium calceolus survived in Britain.
Characteristics
The Cypripedium are terrestrial and, as with most terrestrial orchids, the
The
Taxonomy
Comparison between a DNA-analysis and the morphological characteristics in this genus has shown that there is a high degree of divergence between the two, probably due to long periods of isolation or extinction of intermediate forms. The Eurasian species with yellow or red flowers form a distinct group from the North American species with yellow flowers. The Mexican Pelican Orchid (Cypripedium irapeanum) and the California lady's slipper (Cypripedium californicum) are probably the first diverging line. They share several similarities with their sister group Selenipedium.
Species and natural hybrids
There are 58 currently recognized species and
Subgenus Cypripedium
Section | Image | Name | Distribution |
---|---|---|---|
Acaulia | Cypripedium acaule – Mocassin flower, Pink lady's slipper, Two-leaved lady's slipper | C. and E. Canada, NC & E USA | |
Arietinum | Cypripedium arietinum – Ram's-head lady's slipper | C & E Canada, NC & NE USA | |
Cypripedium plectrochilum | N Myanmar to SC China | ||
Bifolia | Cypripedium guttatum – Spotted lady's slipper | European Russia to Korea, Alaska to Yukon | |
Cypripedium yatabeanum | Russian Far East to N & NC Japan, Aleutian Islands to SW Alaska | ||
Cypripedium | Cypripedium calceolus – Yellow lady's slipper | Europe to Japan | |
Cypripedium candidum – Small white lady slipper | SE Canada, NC & E USA | ||
Cypripedium cordigerum – Heart-Lip lady's slipper | N Pakistan to Himalaya, S Tibet | ||
Cypripedium farreri | China | ||
Cypripedium fasciolatum | China | ||
Cypripedium henryi – Henry's lady's slipper | C China | ||
Cypripedium kentuckiense – Kentucky lady's slipper, Southern lady's slipper | C & E USA | ||
Cypripedium montanum – Large lady's slipper, Mountain lady's slipper, White lady's slipper, Moccasin flower | Alaska to California | ||
Cypripedium parviflorum Salisb. – (Greater) yellow lady's slipper, moccasin flower, or hairy yellow ladyslipper | Canada, E USA | ||
Cypripedium segawai | EC Taiwan | ||
Cypripedium shanxiense | China to N Japan | ||
Eniantopedilum | Cypripedium fasciculatum – Brownie lady's slipper, Clustered lady's slipper | W USA | |
Flabellinervia | Cypripedium japonicum – Japan lady's slipper | China, Korea, Japan | |
Cypripedium formosanum – Formosa lady's slipper | C Taiwan | ||
Macrantha | Cypripedium calcicolum | China | |
Cypripedium franchetii – Franchet's lady's slipper | C & SC China | ||
Cypripedium himalaicum | SE Tibet to Himalaya | ||
Cypripedium ludlowii | SE Tibet | ||
Cypripedium macranthos – Large-flowered lady's slipper | E Belarus to temperate E Asia | ||
Cypripedium taibaiense | China | ||
Cypripedium tibeticum | Sikkim to C China | ||
Cypripedium yunnanense | SE Tibet, China | ||
Retinervia | Cypripedium elegans | E Nepal to China | |
Cypripedium debile – Frail lady's slipper | Japan, Taiwan, China | ||
Cypripedium palangshanense | China | ||
Sinopedilum | Cypripedium bardolphianum | China | |
Cypripedium forrestii | China | ||
Cypripedium micranthum | China | ||
Trigonopedia | Cypripedium daweishanense (S.C.Chen & Z.J.Liu) S.C.Chen & Z.J.Liu (2005) | Yunnan, China South-Central | |
Cypripedium fargesii | China | ||
Cypripedium lentiginosum | China | ||
Cypripedium lichiangense S.C.Chen & P.J.Cribb | China (SW Sichuan, NW Yunnan), NE Myanmar | ||
Cypripedium malipoense S.C.Chen & Z.J.Liu | Yunnan, China South-Central | ||
Cypripedium margaritaceum – Pearl-white lady's slipper | China | ||
Cypripedium sichuanense | China | ||
Cypripedium wumengense | China |
Subgenus Irapeana
Section | Image | Name | Distribution |
---|---|---|---|
Irapeana | Cypripedium californicum – California lady's slipper | Oregon, N. California | |
Cypripedium molle | Mexico | ||
Cypripedium dickinsonianum | Mexico (S Chiapas) to Guatemala | ||
Cypripedium irapeanum – Pelican Orchid, Irapeao lady's slipper | Mexico to Honduras | ||
Obtusipetala | Cypripedium flavum – Yellow lady's slipper | SE Tibet, SC China | |
Cypripedium passerinum – Franklyn's lady's slipper, small white Northern lady's slipper, sparrow's egg lady's slipper | Alaska to Canada, Montana | ||
Cypripedium reginae Walter – Large white lady's slipper, Queen's lady's slipper, showy lady's slipper | C & E Canada, E. USA | ||
Subtropica | Cypripedium subtropicum | SE. Tibet | |
Cypripedium wardii | SE. Tibet, China |
Natural Hybrids
Image | Scientific name | Common Name | Distribution |
---|---|---|---|
Cypripedium × alaskanum | C. guttatum × C. yatabeanum | Alaska | |
Cypripedium × andrewsii | C. candidum × C. parviflorum var. pubescens | E Canada, NC & NE USA | |
Cypripedium × catherinae | C. macranthon × C. shanxiense | Russian Far East | |
Cypripedium × columbianum | C. montanum × C. parviflorum var. pubescens | W Canada, NW USA | |
Cypripedium x herae | C.parviflorum x C.reginae | Manitoba, Canada | |
Cypripedium × ventricosum | C. calceolus × C. macranthos | Russia to Korea | |
Cypripedium × wenqingiae | C. farreri × C. tibeticum | China |
Uses
The genus has a long history of use, dating back 2,500 years to the Far East, where they were used medicinally.
Conservation
Several orchid species thought to be extinct in the United Kingdom including one native species in this genus have been found in habitat and are currently the subject of aggressive conservation efforts to protect and restore these showy plants to their native ranges.[7]
Awards
The following have received the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit:-
- Cypripedium formosanum[8]
- Cypripedium Hank Small gx[9]
- Cypripedium Michael gx[10]
- Cypripedium reginae[11]
- Cypripedium Sabine gx[12]
References
- Phillip Cribb & Peter Green (1997). The Genus Cypripedium (a botanical monograph). Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, Timber Press ISBN 0-88192-403-2
- Pridgeon, A.M.; Cribb, P.J.; Chase, M.W. & F. N. Rasmussen (1999): Genera Orchidacearum Vol.1, page: 114 ff., Oxford U. Press. ISBN 0-19-850513-2
- ^ a b c d "Cypripedium". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
- ^ Walid, Nemer & Rebbas, Khellaf & Krouchi, Faiza. (2019). Découverte de Cypripedium calceolus (Orchidaceae) au Djurdjura (Algérie), nouvelle pour l’Afrique du Nord. Flora Mediterranea. 29. 207-214. 10.7320/FlMedit29.207.
- ^ "Cypripedium calceolus". Altervista Flora Italiana.
- ^ Chen, Xinqi; Cribb, Phillip J. "Cypripedium". Flora of China – via eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.
- ^ Sheviak, Charles J. (2002). "Cypripedium". In Flora of North America Editorial Committee (ed.). Flora of North America North of Mexico (FNA). Vol. 26. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press – via eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.
- USDA Forest Service. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
- ^ Jowit, Juliette (3 August 2010). "Ghost orchid comes back from extinction". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
- ^ "Cypripedium formosanum". RHS. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
- ^ "Cypripedium Hank Small gx". RHS. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
- ^ "Cypripedium Michael gx". RHS. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
- ^ "Cypripedium reginae". RHS. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
- ^ "Cypripedium Sabine gx". RHS. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
External links
- Media related to Cypripedium at Wikimedia Commons
- Data related to Cypripedium at Wikispecies
- Cypripedium - Infos by Mr. Frosch
- Photos of Chinese Slipper Orchids
- Cypripedium japonicum Cypripedium macranthum var. hotei-atsumorianum Images of Japanese Cypripedium
- Cypripedium picture database