OF THE CAROLINAS & GEORGIA

Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Monocots: Asparagales

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Cypripedium acaule   FAMILY Orchidaceae   Go to FSUS key



SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Cypripedium acaule   FAMILY Orchidaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)

Cypripedium acaule

SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 26 (2002)

Cypripedium acaule

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.

image of Cypripedium acaule, Pink Lady's Slipper, Mocassin Flower

USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / USDA Wetland flora: Field office illustrated guide    pnd_cyac3_009_lvd

        

image of Cypripedium acaule, Pink Lady's Slipper, Mocassin Flower

USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913    pnd_fiac_001_lvd

        

image of Cypripedium acaule, Pink Lady's Slipper, Mocassin Flower

JK Marlow    jkm090412_244

April    Greenville County    SC

Chestnut Ridge Heritage Preserve

image of Cypripedium acaule, Pink Lady's Slipper, Mocassin Flower

JK Marlow    jkm110417_951

April    Cleburne County    AL

Mount Cheaha

image of Cypripedium acaule, Pink Lady's Slipper, Mocassin Flower

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 (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).

image of Cypripedium acaule, Pink Lady's Slipper, Mocassin Flower

JK Marlow    jkm120403_429

April    Henderson County    NC

Holmes Educational Forest

image of Cypripedium acaule, Pink Lady's Slipper, Mocassin Flower

JK Marlow    jkm150424_732

April    Blount County    TN

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

image of Cypripedium acaule, Pink Lady's Slipper, Mocassin Flower

JK Marlow    jkm160421_404

April    Sevier County    TN

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

image of Cypripedium acaule, Pink Lady's Slipper, Mocassin Flower

Ben Geer Keys    bgk2294_a

May    Transylvania County    NC

Cypripedium acaule forma albiflorum (the rare white form).

image of Cypripedium acaule, Pink Lady's Slipper, Mocassin Flower

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 (Fowler, 2005).

image of Cypripedium acaule, Pink Lady's Slipper, Mocassin Flower

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.

image of Cypripedium acaule, Pink Lady's Slipper, Mocassin Flower

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 (Campbell, Hutson, Sharp, & Hutson, 1962).

image of Cypripedium acaule, Pink Lady's Slipper, Mocassin Flower

JK Marlow    jkm0405o_18

May    Greenville County    SC

Roadside

Our only Lady's Slipper without stem leaves, per Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977).

image of Cypripedium acaule, Pink Lady's Slipper, Mocassin Flower

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 (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).

image of Cypripedium acaule, Pink Lady's Slipper, Mocassin Flower

JK Marlow    jkm160504_345

May    Jackson County    NC

Panthertown

Seedling?

image of Cypripedium acaule, Pink Lady's Slipper, Mocassin Flower

JK Marlow    jkm210523_0723

May    Greenville County    SC

Ashmore Heritage Preserve

image of Cypripedium acaule, Pink Lady's Slipper, Mocassin Flower

Keith Bradley    kab_c_acaule_73425

May        NC

Pisgah National Forest

image of Cypripedium acaule, Pink Lady's Slipper, Mocassin Flower

Kevin Adams    kcacypripediumacaule_36

May        NC

Blue Ridge Parkway

image of Cypripedium acaule, Pink Lady's Slipper, Mocassin Flower

Ben Geer Keys    bgk426_a

May?        

image of Cypripedium acaule, Pink Lady's Slipper, Mocassin Flower

Wesley Burnett    gwb_00876

June    Washington County    ME

Cypripedium acaule forma albiflorum

image of Cypripedium acaule, Pink Lady's Slipper, Mocassin Flower

Wesley Burnett    gwb_00878

June    Washington County    ME

The rare white form of pink lady’s slipper.

image of Cypripedium acaule, Pink Lady's Slipper, Mocassin Flower

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 (Spira, 2011).

image of Cypripedium acaule, Pink Lady's Slipper, Mocassin Flower

Richard and Teresa Ware    rtw_cypripedium_acaule_c

July    Floyd County    GA

The Pocket Recreation Area

image of Cypripedium acaule, Pink Lady's Slipper, Mocassin Flower

JK Marlow    jkm180825_4145

August    Pickens County    SC

Jocassee Gorges

image of Cypripedium acaule, Pink Lady's Slipper, Mocassin Flower

JK Marlow    jkm180825_4146

August    Pickens County    SC

Jocassee Gorges

image of Cypripedium acaule, Pink Lady's Slipper, Mocassin Flower

JK Marlow    jkm220926_9994

September    Spartanburg County    SC

image of Cypripedium acaule, Pink Lady's Slipper, Mocassin Flower

JK Marlow    jkm201015_7697

October    Transylvania County    NC

DuPont State Forest

 

 

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Cypripedium acaule   FAMILY Orchidaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Cypripedium acaule   FAMILY Orchidaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Cypripedium acaule

SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 26
Cypripedium acaule

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

 

Find by SCIENTIFIC NAME:

426

Forb
Perennial

Habitat: Dry to mesic, acid forests and woodlands, often under pine, other conifers, and/or oaks, per Weakley's Flora

Native to the Carolinas & Georgia

Common (uncommon in Piedmont of GA & SC) (rare in Coastal Plain of GA & SC)

map
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.

LEAVES:
Simple

FLOWER:
Spring/Summer
Pink/White
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
Bisexual

FRUIT:
Summer
Capsule

 

TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!



 


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