Cypripedium parviflorum in the Canadian Rockies

One of the main reasons for stopping in Mount Robson Provincial Park in British Columbia and in Jasper National Park in Alberta whenever we are traveling to Edmonton is to see Cypripedium parviflorum in bloom.  This year, however, we were a little late and almost missed them.

We stopped at three different locations.  At the first they were completely finished, at the second some of the flowers were still good enough to photograph and at the third they were also starting to go by, but still decent, so we did not miss them entirely.

In the third location we know of only a few clumps visible from the road.  In the other two locations they grow by the thousands and it is always a joy to see them.  They are variety pubescens, the Large Yellow Lady's Slipper, distinguished by its larger flowers and faint scent.

These flowers were photographed at the second location near Kinney Lake on the Berg Lake trail in Mount Robson Provincial Park.  There are thousands of these plants there in several different locations but only a few flowers left at the location I visited.