Small White Lady's Slipper

(Cypripedium candidum)

Small White Lady's Slipper (Cypripedium candidum [Muhl. ex Willd.])

Identification: Flower white. Lower petals fused into a hollow pouch (slipper). Pouch white on the outside, lined with purple on the inside, and without a groove at its upperside. Flower throat yellow. Upper and lateral "petals" elongate, pointed, the lateral "petals" very long and twisted, green. Upper leaf modified, concave, and arching over the flower. Other leaves elongate, broad, arising up and down the stem. Plant 6 to 12 inches in height.

Distribution: North Dakota in the west to to western New York and Ontario in the east, southward to Missouri and Kentucky.

Habitat: Small White Lady's Slipper is found in wet meadows, prairies, and on limestone derived soils.

Flowering period: May to July.

Similar Species: A rare, white variety of Moccasin Flower is similar, but the flower pouch has a strong upper groove and has only two broad, basal leaves. Sparrow's Egg Lady's Slipper (not treated here) (Cypripedium passerinum) is a species of the northern forest, is smaller, and the pouch has purple spots on the outside. The lateral "petals" are broad, short, and not twisted. The lateral petals of Showy Lady's Slipper are also short and broad, and the upper portion of the pouch is pink, not white.