Cypripedium montanum Douglas ex Lindl.
mountain lady's slipper (white lady's-slipper)
Orchidaceae (Orchid family)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

Photograph

© Ed McMackin     (Photo ID #88797)

Map

E-Flora BC Static Map

Distribution of Cypripedium montanum
 Click here to view the full interactive map and legend

Species Information

General:
Perennial herb from stout rhizomes, with coarse, fibrous roots; stems 25-70 cm tall, glandular-hairy, leafy.
Leaves:
Stem leaves 4 to 6, egg-shaped to elliptic-lanceolate, 5-16 cm long, 2.5-8 cm wide, ribbed, the base sheathing.
Flowers:
Inflorescence of 1 to 3 showy flowers; sepals brownish-purple to dark green with purple splotches, lanceolate, twisted, 3-6 cm long, 1-2 cm wide, the lower sepals united, pendant behind lip; petals similar to sepals; lip egg-shaped, 2-3 cm long, 1.5 cm wide and deep, white with purple veins.
Fruits:
Capsules, nearly erect, narrowly ellipsoid, ribbed, glandular-hairy.
Notes:
C. x columbianum Sheviak, a hybrid of C. montanum and C. parviflorum var. pubescens, is known from BC and the adjacent NW U.S.A. The type specimen for the hybrid was collected in BC (Sheviak 1992). The hybrids are either intermediate between the two species or have a mix of characteristics of each.

Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Illustration

If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.

Ecology

Ecological Framework for Cypripedium montanum

The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)

Site Information
 Value / Class

Avg

Min

Max
Elevation (metres)
 794 170 1709
Slope Gradient (%)
 25 0 74

Aspect (degrees)
[0 - N; 90 - E; 180 - S; 270 - W]

 205 45 344
Soil Moisture Regime (SMR)
[0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic;
8 - hydric] 		3 2 7
Modal Nutrient Regime
Class
 C
# of field plots
 species was recorded in:
 35
Modal BEC Zone Class
 IDF

All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in

 BWBS(4), CWH(1), ESSF(1), ICH(9), IDF(10), SBS(9)

Habitat and Range

Moist to dry open forests in the steppe, montane and subalpine zones; rare on N Vancouver Island, infrequent in and E of the Coast-Cascade Mountains, rare northward; N to AK, E to SK and S to WY, ID and CA.

Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

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