Mountain Lady's Slipper

Cypripedium montanum is not as showy as some of our other native Lady's Slippers, but is the most elegant of them all. It is not that rare, but its colors can make it somewhat hard to spot when it is growing in dappled sunlight among other plants and small trees. These flowers were photographed In British Columbia at a site that was scheduled to be bulldozed for road construction. Whether or not that has actually happened I do not know, but there were many flowers there that seemed to be part of a hybrid population between this species (if it is indeed the species) and the Large Yellow Lady's Slipper, Cypripedium parviflorum.

For more information on this species see my blog: nativeorchidsofthepacificnorthwest.blogspot.com/2010/08/m...