Large Yellow Lady's Slipper

This new set of pictures is of a trip we made last summer to Edmonton to see our son-in-law, daughter, and grandchildren. We took the Yellowhead Highway through Mount Robson Provincial Park and Jasper National Park and made a number of stops along the way for photos. The first stop was an early-morning visit to an area where there are hundreds of these yellow Lady's Slippers growing. The Large Yellow Lady's Slipper, Cypripedium parviflorum var. pubescens, is very rare in Washington but quite common in British Columbia and Alberta. This fine example shows some of the beauty of these incredibly lovely orchids. They do vary in color, the pouches from a very deep to a paler yellow and the sepals and petals from green to brownish to very dark mahogany. They are also very faintly scented of lavender or old roses.