Throughout the Pacific Northwest, Cypripedium montanum, the Mountain Lady's Slipper, is the most common of the Lady's Slipper's, though up in British Columbia it is no where near as common as the Yellow Lady's Slipper, Cypripedium parviflorum. It is nevertheless hard to find unless one knows where to look and it is possible to look in vain for this species because it can be hard to see even when one is looking right at it. Its dark sepals and petals and white pouch blend in perfectly with the light and shadows of the woodlands where it grows. The color of the sepals and petals ranges from a very dark mahogany to a greenish color more or less streaked with mahogany. There is a named form that has a pouch or lip rimmed with reddish-purple, fma. welchii, but that is the subject of another post. The pouch is white with purple markings on the inside which sometimes show on the outside as well. Where we have found them growing together, the darker forms appear to bloom a bit earlier than the lighter forms.
May 30
(photographed at four different locations)
June 23
(these and the June 24th pictures are from a revisit to two of the previous locations)
June 24
July 7
(Canadian Rockies)
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