Columbia Hybrid Lady's Slipper

This is Cypripedium x columbianum, a natural hybrid of Cypripedium parviflorum and Cypripedium montanum, photographed on a recent trip to eastern Washington. At the site we visited there is a population of flowers some of which resemble the parents and some of which are clearly intermediate between the parents. This resembles Cypripedium montanum, but is probably a hybrid, though only DNA analysis would be definitive.

We've been orchid hunting with friends from Germany, visiting quite a number of sites, twelve if I remember correctly, and traveling a lot of miles. We found a total of sixteen species, close to half of the total species here in Washington. For that reason I've not been able to post pictures or comment for several days, but should be back for a while now, though I'll be gone again today to Goat Mountain, the last day of our time together.