Cypripedium acaule Aiton

Flowering in April to June.

Widespread in North America, most abundandy in the eastern and northeastern parts of its range. Canada (Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Ontario west to Saskatchewan and Alberta), U.S.A. (Ne,v England south to South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee and Alabama and west to Minnesota, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky).

In a variety of habitats from wet sphagnum bog to dry Pinus (pine) forest, usually in moderate shade where the soil is rich in humus, strongly acidic and thoroughly aerated. Flowering in April to June.

A terrestrial herb 20-45 cm tall, with a very short erect underground stem, 1-7 cm long, covered by two to three glabrous tubular sheaths and growing from a short underground rhizome. Leaves nvo, plicate, basal, spreading-suberect, elliptic, 10-28 cm long, 5-15 cm wide, glandular-pubescent, ciliate, glossy bright green. Inflorescence one- or rarely two-flowered; peduncle erect, to 40 cm long, glandular-pubescent; bract arching over flower, foliaceous, lanceolate, acuminate, 4-5 cm long, 1-1.5 cm wide, glandular- pubescent. Flower large, nutant, with yellow-green to maroon sepals and petals and a pink or rarely white lip, the staminode green to pink; pedicel and ovary 1-1.5 cm long, glandular-pubescent. Dorsal sepal often arching over lip, ovate- to elliptic-lanceolate, acuminate, 3-5 cm long, 0.5-1.7 cm wide, glandular-ciliate on basal margins, sparsely glandular-pubescent without and within; synsepal elliptic- to ovate-lanceolate, acute to obtuse, 3-4.5 cm long, 1-2.3 cm wide, sparsely glandular-pubescent without, glandular-ciliate. Petals deflexed at 45°, slightly twisted, slightly falcate, linear-lanceolate to lanceolate, acute, 4-6 cm long, 1-1.7 cm wide, densely pubescent at the base within. Lip ellipsoid-obovoid, longer than the sepals, 4-6 cm long, 2.5-3.5 cm wide, densely pubescent on inner surface at base, pubescent on front margin and around mouth on outer surface, lacking discernable side lobes, the orifice elongate and narrow, the margins incurved except at the apex. Column 1-1.2 cm long, pubescent on dorsal surface; staminode convex, suborbicular- rhombic to ovoid-deltoid, obtuse to 1.8 cm long and 1.4 cm wide, densely pubescent.