Lady's-slipper Orchid

Taxonomic information

Common Name: Lady’s-slipper Orchid

Latin Name: Cypripedium calceolus

Family: Orchidaceae

Description

Lady's-slipper orchid.
Photograph by
Robin Graham.

The lady’s-slipper orchid is a very striking plant that grows up to 30cm tall. It is a slow maturing species that may take up to ten years before flowering. When it does flower it produces a single flower per plant which appears in May and June. The flowers, with the characteristic yellow slipper-shaped pouch, are what give this species its name. These pouches attract bees which, once inside, can only get out through the narrow opening where they either collect or deposit pollen.

This species was once widespread and relatively common across limestone areas of the country including the Dales, with records from the late 1790s indicating that bundles of the flowers were sold on market stalls in Settle. Since then it has been a very popular species amongst collectors, particularly during the Victorian period, and has become such a rare species that it now only occurs naturally at one site in the country, in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. At this one site just one wild plant remains which, because of its rarity, has to be guarded by wardens to ensure that it is not taken by collectors. This species continues to be on the UK list of priority species for biodiversity action.

A great deal of work has been undertaken to try and improve the fortunes of this species. Seeds have been carefully collected and successfully micropropagated at the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew, and seedlings of the lady’s-slipper orchid have now been reintroduced and the first flowering was reported in 2000. It is hoped that it will not be too long before more of these plants begin to flower and that it will be possible to see this magnificent plant once again thriving in its natural habitat in England.