We made a brief stop recently in north-central Washington to see a patch of the Columbia Hybrid Lady's Slippers, Cypripedium x columbianum, a natural hybrid of the Mountain Lady's Slipper, Cypripedium montanum and the Yellow Lady's Slipper, Cypripedium parviflorum var. pubescens. In this hybrid population, which grows mixed together, there are flowers that look like both parents, with either a yellow or white lip, as well as flowers that are clearly intermediate between the parents, the lips a soft yellow or off-white color. When we visited this patch, it was obvious that it had not been a very good year with fewer than normal plants and we also found most of them finished, though we did take enough photos for a blog post.
Cypripedium x columbianum
A beautiful and delicate hybrid. We only have a Cypripedium, so it has no ability to hybridize with another of the same gender.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Angel. We have three Cypripediums here in Washington, four if you include this hybrid. Some of them are quite rare in our area, however.
DeleteGreat blog! I'll be coming to the NW in about 2 weeks and would appreciate assistance in finding any orchids that bloom in the areas I will visit. Please let me know if you'd be able to help.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
Hi and thanks for the kind comments. I'd love to help you out and could even possibly arrange that you accompany our native orchid group on an excursion. My email is ronaldhhanko at outlook.com. You can contact me there with dates and other info. We've been away and so my apologies, too, for such a delayed response.
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