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Species Image Gallery (opens in a new window) |
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| THE ORCHID FAMILY | |||||||||
| The orchid family is easily recognizable
because of the unique structures of the flower. There are usually three
sepals and three petals, similar to other petaloid monocots; however, the
sepals often look like the two side petals. The middle petal is called the
labellum or lip and is usually highly modified. The lip can be pouch-like,
have appendages or be coloured differently than the rest of the perianth.
The stamens, style, and stigma are fused together to form the column. There
is usually one functional anther with two pollen sacs that contain masses
of pollen called pollinia. The stigma is usually a sticky surface at the
tip or beak of the column. The ovary is long and can be seen below the sepals
and petals. Orchid flowers can be very bright and large, which makes them popular ornamental plants. This family is well represented in the tropics. Saskatchewan has several orchid species, most of which are quite small. |
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| SHOWY LADY’S-SLIPPER | |||||||||
| LATIN NAME: Cypripedium reginae | |||||||||
| WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE? | |||||||||
| Showy lady’s-slipper is a large orchid that can grow as tall as 80 cm. The stem and leaves are densely hairy. It has been reported that the hairs can irritate some people’s skin, so be careful when touching this plant! There are three to nine leaves spread out along the stem. The leaves are somewhat folded and are ribbed. Each stem has one to three flowers on short stalks subtended by leaf-like bracts. The sepals and petals are white. The two side sepals are fused and the product of the fusion is almost as big as the upper sepal. The lip is white with pink around the opening and sometimes extending to cover most of the lip. The fruit is a capsule. | |||||||||
| WHERE DOES IT GROW? | |||||||||
| Showy lady’s-slipper is found in moist woods. | |||||||||
| WHERE IS IT FOUND IN SASKATCHEWAN? | |||||||||
| This plant is found in east-central Saskatchewan in the Aspen Parkland ecoregion. | |||||||||
| WHY IS IT RARE? | |||||||||
| Showy lady’s-slipper is endangered because of rarity in Saskatchewan. It is highly regionally restricted in the province and is almost always locally sparse. Immediate or probable threats have been identified. | |||||||||
| HOW TO IDENTIFY SHOWY LADY’S-SLIPPER | |||||||||
| * Are the sepals and petals white? * Is the lip white with crimson or pink around the opening? * Are there three to nine stem leaves? * Did you find in east-central Saskatchewan? |
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| If you answered yes to all of these questions, you may have found showy lady’s-slipper! | |||||||||
