Nearctica - Eastern Wildflowers - Orchidaceae

Calypso

(Calypso bulbosa)

Color Photograph: National Prairie Wildlife Reserach Center, U.S. Department of the Interior

Line Drawing: Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada, Second Edition.

Calypso (Calypso bulbosa [L.] Oakes)

Identification: Flower large, pink to lilac. Lower petals forming a hollow pouchlike structure (slipper). Pouch with a yellow, dorsal crest, and two small bumps at the front edge. Throat generally streaked with purple. Lateral and upper "petals" long, narrow, sometimes slightly twisted, and the top petal usually hanging over the mouth of the flower. Plant with a single, apical flower. Stem tinged purple. Plant with a single, basal leaf. Leaf ovate with a long petiole-like base. Plant 3 to 8 inches in height.

Distribution: Across Canada and southward to Minnesota, Michigan, New York, and New England. Occurs throughout most of western North America. Also found in northern Europe and Asia.

Habitat: Calypso is found in wet coniferous forest.

Flowering period: May to July.

Similar Species: The distinctive flower and the single round, basal leaf easily identify this species.