Cypridium montanum or Mountain Lady's Slipper

About a month ago my brother-in-law sent me pictures of a flower that he picked on his property. He has 20 acres of forested type land and lives about 25 miles east of Lewiston, ID. He ask me what it was and if it was endangered. I looked it up and I came up with Cypridium montanum or Mountain Lady's Slipper. I told him not to pick anymore.



About 2 wks ago my husband and I went to visit. I had my brother-in-law show me where the lady slipper was at and there were 2 more plants and they had made seed pods. Is this an endangered orchid? Also is this considered an in situ post?

Any orchid in the wild is endangered.

Any orchid in the wild is endangered.

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I didn't know that. He promised not to pick anymore.

To pick or not to pick

Ruth said:

I didn't know that. He promised not to pick anymore.

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Not the absolute truth, but a good rule of thumb. A few orchids are actually weeds.

C. montanum has a global ranking of "G4" = apparently secure. It is critically endangered in parts of its range and extirpated in some areas. Here is a pdf about this species and its conservation status: C. montanum - a technical conservation assessment - truly detailed report.

yes, your lower pictures outdoors are 'in situ'. montanum might be rare or endangered in idaho, but there may be alot in a neighboring state. if it has lots of seed pods that's a good sign, and you could mention to your brother that he might think about taking one of the seed pods when it starts to split, and run around his wooded property shaking the seeds out (sort of like johnny appleseed ). since it's on his property he can do with it what he wants, but it's good that he is concerned about it's continuing to exist and doesn't want to pick anymore. if at some point he's able to make his population grow he could enjoy a blossom in a vase, though in general it's better to just watch the flowers where they are

thanks for posting

Great pics and nice, they are rare in cultiviation.
Heard that there are dark color ones exist to and alba ones.

its a great idea to seed them.

Hope the 2 of mine will bloom next year too.

Here is a pdf about this species and its conservation status: C. montanum - a technical conservation assessment - truly detailed report.

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Thanks, I am surprized that so much has been written on C. montanum

if it has lots of seed pods that's a good sign, and you could mention to your brother that he might think about taking one of the seed pods when it starts to split, and run around his wooded property shaking the seeds out (sort of like johnny appleseed ).

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Thanks, I will pass all of this info on to my brother-in-law

tough to grow though, best not to pick if you are not experienced!

That's true.

NYEric said:

Any orchid in the wild is endangered.

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In lots of places the wild itself is endangered.

It's very cool to see these pics of wild slippers.