Minnesota Wildflowers


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Cypripedium candidum (Small White Lady's-slipper)

Plant Info
Also known as: White Moccasin-flower
Genus:Cypripedium
Family:Orchidaceae (Orchid)
Life cycle:perennial
Origin:native
Status:
  • State Special Concern
Habitat:part shade, sun; moist prairies, sedge meadows, calcareous fens
Bloom season:May - June
Plant height:6 to 34 inches
USDA PLANTS database:Minnesota county distribution map

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Detailed Information

Flower: Flower shape: irregular

[photo of flower] Single to rarely two flowers on slender stem (peduncle), The inflated lower petal (the slipper) is ¾ to 1 inch long, glossy white, sometimes faint purple speckling lining pouch opening and/or faint veination on lower pouch. Bright yellow flower column, often splashed with red, broadens into a flat oval lip, appressed tightly into pouch opening. Lateral petals are narrow, to 1½ inches long, greenish brown and twisted. Sepals are similar in color; lateral sepals are fused behind the lip; upper sepal is broader and erect above the lip. The single leaf-like floral bract is up to 4¼ inches long.

Leaves: Leaf attachment: alternate Leaf type: simple

[photo of leaves] 2 to 4 leaves on the upper part of the stem are broad to lance-elliptical, each 2 to 6 inches long, covered with short hairs and parallel veins, are alternately attached and sheath the stem. A few scale-like leaves sheath the lower part of the stem. Dense clumps of up to 50 stems emerge from a single root.

Notes:

Small White Lady's-slipper is a rapidly declining treasure and is a Minnesota State Special Concern species. My first post-college position was at (what I still call) the new zoo in Apple Valley. About that time construction began on the new Cedar Ave. bridge over the Minnesota River Valley. We obtained a salvage permit for orchids within the construction zone. Other orchid species, C. reginae (Showy Lady's-slipper) and C. parviflorum var. makasin (Small Yellow Lady's-slipper) were also present but masses of C. candidum were visible into the distance. None survived our hastily prepared beds at the zoo but no matter, today they are all but extinguished from the area. The culprit? Commercially developed reed canary-grass hybrids (RCG) - Phalaris arundinaceae, that swallowed up all of the land. Development and invasive species, can we envision less costly and destructive progress?

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Map of native plant purveyors in the upper midwest

More photos

Photos courtesy Peter M. Dziuk, taken on SNA lands in Cottonwood County where RCG also presents an imminent threat

Comments

Have you seen this plant in Minnesota, or have any other comments about it?

Posted by: Dave in Stevens County
on: 2010-06-20 13:56:33

I know of a small patch of these lady slippers on a private piece of remnant native prairie next to a wetland, NW of Morris, MN.

Posted by: Brian in LeSueur County
on: 2011-06-11 00:01:07

There's a colony of literally thousands of these plants in LeSueur County that I and others have been observing for many years. The {expletives deleted} reed canary grass is invading the colony, though. Here's a link to my photos on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/aeranthes/sets/72157606040020005/ I and a friend saw a few (large handful...?) of them in a fen near the Cities about a week and a half ago, but the population density was only a tiny fraction of that at the LeSueur County site.

Posted by: Kylene in Chippewa County
on: 2011-10-05 10:13:19

I have been observing this orchid, Cypripedium candidumin, small white lady slipper, in Chippewa County, western Minnesota, for the past 7 years. Some years they are very prolific and others just a few bloom. They bloom in late May - early June. I have some beautiful pictures I have taken over the past few years. Kylene

Posted by: Tom in Blue Stem Prairie (Nature Conservancy)
on: 2012-04-11 22:15:36

south of Buffalo River State Park. Found in wet meadow, south of parking area. Scattered clumps of 1-3 plants, blooming in May. First seen in 2008.

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