USDA Forest Service Celebrating Wildflowers

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Beauty of It All

The Ladies

Cypripedium acaule

Cypripedium arietinum

Cypripedium californicum

Cypripedium candidum

Cypripedium fasciculatum

Cypripedium guttatum

Cypripedium kentuckiense

Cypripedium montanum

Cypripedium parviflorum

Cypripedium passerinum

Cypripedium reginae

Meet The Ladies: The Slipper Orchids

Cypripedium passerinum: Sparrow's egg lady's slipper

Sparrow's egg lady's slipper occurs farther north than any other Cypripedium in boreal and sub-arctic regions of Canada and Alaska and south to northern Montana.

the sparrow's egg lady's slipper.
Photo by Richard Reeves, Native Orchid Conservation Inc.

Map of the range of Cypripedium passerinum in North America.
Courtesy of Flora of North America.

Cypripedium passerinum in its habitat.
Photo by of Christiane Neufeld, Native Orchid Conservation Inc.

Cypripedium passerinum is a small multi-stemmed species with stems up to 18 inches in height. The mature stem has 3 to 5 leaves and up to 3 flowers. The petals and labellum are white with purple spots which are thought to resemble a sparrow's egg; the dorsal sepal is pale green.

Cypripedium passerinum grows in spruce forests in thickets and openings, as well as bogs, tundra, and in coarse soils of terraces and stream banks.

For More Information

U.S. Forest Service
Rangeland Management
Botany Program

1400 Independence Ave., SW, Mailstop Code: 1103
Washington DC 20250-1103

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Location: http://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/beauty/cypripedium/cypripedium_passerinum.shtml
Last modified: Tuesday, 24-Jun-2008 21:57:57 EDT