Showy lady's-slipper

Photographed this beautiful Pink or Showy lady's-slipper (Cypripedium reginae) yesterday, 2 July 2014, when I called in at the Reader Rock Garden on my way home from a volunteer shift. Unfortunately, this beautiful orchid is not native to Alberta.

"The Showy Lady's-slipper (Cypripedium reginae), also known as the Pink-and-white Lady's-slipper or the Queen's Lady's-slipper, is a rare terrestrial temperate lady's-slipper orchid native to northern North America.

Despite producing a large amount of seeds per seed pod, it reproduces largely by vegetative reproduction, and remains restricted to the North East region of the United States and south east regions of Canada. Although never common, this rare plant has vanished from much of its historical range due to habitat loss. It has been a subject of horticultural interest for many years with Charles Darwin who like many, were unsuccessful in cultivating the plant.

The plant became the state flower of Minnesota in 1902 and was protected by state law in 1925. It is illegal to pick or uproot a Showy Lady's-slipper flower in Minnesota.

Although this plant was chosen as the provincial flower for Prince Edward Island in 1947, it is so rare on the island that another Lady's-slipper, C. acaule (moccasin flower or pink lady slipper), has replaced it as the province's floral emblem." From Wikipedia.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cypripedium_reginae

The famous, annual Calgary Stampede begins tomorrow, with the Stampede Parade taking place in the morning. William Shatner (from Star Trek) is our Parade Marshall. No worries about the weather, as it's a beautiful, sunny day today and tomorrow is supposed to be good, too.