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Project Noah Nature School
Cypripedium reginae
One or often two flowers at the top of the stem, the inflated slipper is 1 to 2 inches long, white heavily streaked with deep pink to nearly white and a rare genetic albino of pure white. Flower column white, dipped in yellow and fine splashed reds hung to dry in the slippers door. Petals and sepals are white, finely pubescent (hairy), oblong to 2 inches long. Lateral sepals are fused behind lip; dorsal (upper) sepal is erect and broader. A single leaf-like floral bract to 5 inches long sits at the top of the stem behind the ovary. Leaves and stem: Leaf attachment: alternate Leaf type: simple 4 to 12 leaves, broadly elliptical, 5 to 10 inches long, with wavy edges and strong longitudinal veining are evenly arranged and sheathing the stem. Several reduced leaves sheathe the lower part of the stem. Both stem and leaves richly bristled with glandular-pubescent hairs. Clumps of 20 or more stems may emerge from a single rhizome.
Shade, sun; moist prairies, sedge meadows, calcareous fens
Spotted on Jan 19, 2013
Submitted on Jan 19, 2013
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