Cypripedium reginae

Showy lady's Slipper
Conservation status
Apparently Secure  (NatureServe)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Monocots
Order:	Asparagales
Family:	Orchidaceae
Subfamily:	Cypripedioideae
Genus:	Cypripedium
Species:	C. reginae
Binomial name
Cypripedium reginae Walter (1788)
Synonyms
Cypripedium album Aiton (1789) Cypripedium spectabile Salisb. (1791) Cypripedium canadense Michx. (1803) Calceolus reginae (Walter) Nieuwl. (1913)

Cypripedium reginae, also known as the Showy Lady's-slipper, the Pink-and-white Lady's-slipper, or the Queen's Lady's-slipper, is a rare temperate lady's-slipper orchid native to northern North America. It grows white flowers, with pink labella.

The Pink and White Lady Slipper was made the official state flower of Minnesota in 1967. Lady Slippers are also called the moccasin flower. There color is pink and white. They can live up to fifty years but take up to sixteen years to develop their fruit. Since 1925 the Lady Slipper has been protected and is illegal to pick or unearth the flower from its roots. The flower can be found in the northern part of Minnesota where there are swamps, bogs, wet meadows, and wet prairies. They are also known as the Queen's Lady slipper and are a type of orchid.

References

• NatureServe (2006), "Cypripedium reginae", NatureServe Explorer: An online encyclopedia of life, Version 6.1., Arlington, Virginia

• Gray's Manual of Botany of the Northern United States, American Book Company, 1889

Other websites

• Minnesota Secretary of State: State Flower Archived 2004-02-26 at the Wayback Machine, accessed January 31, 2004
• US Geological Survey: Showy Lady Slipper, accessed January 31, 2004
• Showy Lady's-slipper: Queen Lady's-slipper(botany.wisc.edu) Archived 2005-11-23 at the Wayback Machine, accessed Nov 19, 2005
• NRCS: USDA Plants Profile: Cypripedium reginae