[Lady's Slipper Orchids: The Genus Cypripedium in the
Columbia River Gorge of Oregon and Washington]
Mountain Lady Slipper, Mountain Lady's Slipper
Cypripedium montanum
Mountain lady's slippers as seen in a mixed conifer/oak forest along the Klickitat River in the Klickitat State Wildlife Area...............May 20, 2012.
Characteristics:
The mountain lady's slipper is an attractive wildflower with
a single, erect, leafy stem from 20-60 cm in height. The leaves are widely elliptic
or ovate-elliptic, from 5-15 cm long and up to 7 cm wide, slightly glandular-pubescent,
sessile and sheathing. The venation is parallel.
The one- three flowers are large and showy, ranked one above
the other. Each flower is opposite a large green, leaf-like bract. The sepals
are light to deeply brownish-purple, narrowly to broadly lanceolate, twisted
or wavy, with the upper sepal from 4-5 cm long and the two drooping sepals shorter
in length. The pair of upper petals are similarly colored, while the lower,
drooping petal, forms a pouch-like lip from 2-3 cm in length. The lower lip
is pure white with purple venation. The flower is fragrant too.
Like many other large orchids, the mountain lady's slipper should
be admired in its natural environment and not picked or dug. Generally, the
plants do not survive transplanting and picking may reduce the chances for survival
by robbing the plant of much of its photosynthetic capabilities.
Habitat:
The mountain lady's slipper may be found on dry to fairly moist
ground both in the open as well as in shrub or forest-covered slopes.
Range:
Mountain lady's slipper is found from Alaska south (along the
east side of the Cascades) to Santa Cruz County in California and east to southwestern
Alberta, Montana and Wyoming. It appears to be absent from the Olympic Mountains
and west of the Cascade crest in Washington and Oregon.
In the Columbia River Gorge, it may be found sporadically east
of the White Salmon River to the Columbia Hills between the elevations of 1200'-2500'.
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Close-ups of mountain lady's slippers as seen in a mixed conifer/oak forest along the Klickitat River in the Klickitat State Wildlife Area...............May 20, 2012.
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Mountain lady's slippers as seen in a mixed conifer/oak forest in the Klickitat State Wildlife Area...............May 17, 2017.
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New leaves emerging from the oak leaf litter and the old seed heads of mountain lady slipper as seen in the Klickitat Wildlife Area........April 6, 2013.
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Mountain lady's slippers as seen in a mixed conifer-oak forest along the Klickitat River in the Klickitat State Wildlife Area...............May15, 2013.
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Mountain lady slippers as seen in a mostly coniferous forest. The forest had started out as mixed but the conifers are getting old enough that they are shading out the deciduous shrubs and trees. The understory is fairly open and this may be the result of thinning and other management on this private piece of property. Photographed along the western branch of Major Creek, Columbia River Gorge..........May 28, 2013.
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Mountain lady slippers in bloom in oak woods near Klickitat, WA......April 29, 2021.
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Mountain lady slippers blooming near Satus Pass, Washington..........May 24, 2015.
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Mountain lady slippers blooming at left near Little Bowman Creek, Klickitat Wildlife Area........May 22, 2015.
The photo at right shows mountain lady slipper leaves as seen in oak forest on slopes near Klickitat, WA.....April 29, 2022.
Mountain lady's slipper from the eastern edge of the Mt. Hood
N.F........June 99.
Paul Slichter