Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Monocots: Asparagales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA (11/30/12):
Cypripedium acaule
FAMILY
Orchidaceae
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Learn more about Cypripedium from the Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
Jim Fowler recorded the growth of one plant in a series of photographs taken one week apart. You can see them here: A short story of Cypripedium acaule (Pink Lady’s-slipper orchid) in an upstate South Carolina Heritage Preserve
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Cypripedium acaule
FAMILY
Orchidaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 049-01-001:
Cypripedium acaule
FAMILY
Orchidaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Fissipes acaulis
COMMON NAME:
Pink Lady's Slipper, Mocassin Flower
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / USDA Wetland flora: Field office illustrated guide pnd_cyac3_009_lvd
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_fiac_001_lvd
)
JK Marlow jkm090412_244
April Greenville County SC
Chestnut Ridge Heritage Preserve
)
JK Marlow jkm110417_951
April Cleburne County AL
Mount Cheaha
)
JK Marlow jkm120403_425
April Henderson County NC
Holmes Educational Forest
Fruits are ellipsoid capsules 1.0-1.75" long, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians.
)
JK Marlow jkm120403_429
April Henderson County NC
Holmes Educational Forest
)
JK Marlow jkm150424_732
April Blount County TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
)
JK Marlow jkm160421_404
April Sevier County TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
)
Ben Geer Keys bgk2294_a
May Transylvania County NC
Cypripedium acaule forma albiflorum (the rare white form).
)
Ben Geer Keys bgk426_b
May
To pollinate, insects enter thru a small vertical slit in the lip front, per Wild Orchids of South Carolina: A Popular Natural History.
)
Wesley Burnett gwb070506_0469
May Gaston County NC
Redlair Farms
The inflated lower petal forms a moccasin-like pouch 1.5-2" long, per Wild Flowers of NC, 1st edition.
)
Bill Sharpton gws_pinkladysslipper
May Pickens County SC
Clemson Forest
Stately pink flower with curled brown sepals at the top of a leafless stalk, per Great Smoky Mountains Wildflowers.
)
JK Marlow jkm0405o_18
May Greenville County SC
Roadside
Our only Lady's Slipper without stem leaves, per Newcomb's Wildflower Guide.
)
JK Marlow jkm110507_274
May Pickens County SC
Jocassee Gorges
Floral bract somewhat arched above flower, lanceolate, 4-5cm long, acuminate, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas.
)
JK Marlow jkm160504_345
May Jackson County NC
Panthertown
Seedling?
)
JK Marlow jkm210523_0723
May Greenville County SC
Ashmore Heritage Preserve
)
Keith Bradley kab_c_acaule_73425
May NC
Pisgah National Forest
)
Kevin Adams kcacypripediumacaule_36
May NC
Blue Ridge Parkway
)
Ben Geer Keys bgk426_a
May?
)
Wesley Burnett gwb_00876
June Washington County ME
Cypripedium acaule forma albiflorum
)
Wesley Burnett gwb_00878
June Washington County ME
The rare white form of pink lady’s slipper.
)
JK Marlow jkm090711_013
July Greenville County SC
Chestnut Ridge Heritage Preserve
Two large, strongly ribbed, basal leaves, per Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont.
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_cypripedium_acaule_c
July Floyd County GA
The Pocket Recreation Area
)
JK Marlow jkm180825_4145
August Pickens County SC
Jocassee Gorges
)
JK Marlow jkm180825_4146
August Pickens County SC
Jocassee Gorges
)
JK Marlow jkm201015_7697
October Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
WEAKLEY'S FLORA (11/30/12):
Cypripedium acaule
FAMILY
Orchidaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Cypripedium acaule
FAMILY
Orchidaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 049-01-001:
Cypripedium acaule
FAMILY
Orchidaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Fissipes acaulis
426
Forb
Perennial
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Documented growing wild in GA NC SC
Common (uncommon in GA-SC Piedmont, rare in SC Coastal Plain)
Look for it in dry to mesic, acid forests & woodlands, often under pine or other conifers, per Weakley's Flora
Click here to see a more detailed map from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Herbarium,
or click here to see a map from SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
...Moist
...Dry
LEAVES:
Simple
FLOWER:
Spring/Summer
Pink/White
Bisexual
Bilaterally symmetrical
3 sepals, two lateral and one dorsal
3 petals, the two lateral similar and a third (the lip) enlarged
stamens and pistil fused together into a column
Inferior ovary
FRUIT:
Spring/Summer
Capsule
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Great Smoky Mountains Wildflowers p056
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC p166
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide p022
- Southern Appalachian Wildflowers p159
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast p331
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States p174
- Wild Flowers of NC, 1st edition p039
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition p045
- Wild Orchids of South Carolina: A Popular Natural History p048
- Wildflowers of Tennessee p392
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians p450
- Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont p357
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains p021
- Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region p225