Yellow lady's slipper facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Cypripedium parviflorum
Cypripedium parviflorum var. makasin Mackinac Island, Michigan
Scientific classification
Genus:	Cypripedium
Species:	parviflorum
Synonyms
Cypripedium luteum var. parviflorum (Salisb.) Raf. Criosanthes parviflora (Salisb.) Raf. Calceolus parviflorus (Salisb.) Nieuwl. Cypripedium calceolus var. parviflorum (Salisb.) Fernald Cypripedium hirsutum var. parviflorum (Salisb.) Rolfe Cypripedium bulbosum var. parviflorum (Salisb.) Farw. Cypripedium calceolus subsp. parviflorum (Salisb.) Hultén

The Cypripedium parviflorum, often called the yellow lady's slipper or moccasin flower, is a beautiful orchid that grows naturally in North America. It's known for its unique, pouch-shaped flower, which looks a bit like a slipper or a moccasin. This plant is found in many places, from Alaska all the way south to Arizona and Georgia.

Meet the Family: Types of Yellow Lady's Slippers

The yellow lady's slipper is a very interesting plant because it can look quite different depending on where it grows. This is because of two main reasons:

• Hybridization: Sometimes, different types of plants mix their genes, creating new versions.
• Phenotypic plasticity: This means the plant can change how it looks based on its environment, like how much sunlight or water it gets.

Scientists have found four main types, or varieties, of the yellow lady's slipper. Let's learn about them:

Exploring the Four Varieties

There are four widely known varieties of Cypripedium parviflorum:

• C. parviflorum var. exiliens – This type is found in Alaska.
• C. parviflorum var. makasin – People often call this the "northern yellow lady's-slipper." It grows across a large part of Canada and the northern United States.
• C. parviflorum var. parviflorum – This one is known as the "small yellow lady's-slipper." You can find it in the southern parts of the plant's range, from eastern Nebraska and Oklahoma east to Virginia and New Hampshire.
• C. parviflorum var. pubescens – This is called the "large yellow lady's-slipper." It's very common across much of the United States, Canada, and even St. Pierre & Miquelon. Some scientists even think this variety is a separate species, called Cypripedium pubescens.

Images for kids

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  This image shows C. parviflorum var. parviflorum. Notice its fuzzy leaf-like part (bract) and dark red-brown sepals (the outer parts of the flower).

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  Here is C. parviflorum var. pubescens. You can see its yellow-green sepals with maroon spots.