What kind of Lady's Slipper is this??

[Jason Berard]

I came across this on a recent hike on the Sugarloafs.

I doesn't look like the right leaf placement for a Pink Lady's Slipper to me, but what do I know.

Any ID help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[una_dogger]

I want to say clintonia that's dropped its stem/berries.

Thoughts?

 

[nartreb]

It's definitely not Clintonia. It's Cypripedium, and if it's C. Acaule, "pink" lady's-slipper, then it's a mutant. If I had to guess I might say C. parviflorum var pubescens, the greater yellow lady's slipper. There aren't many species of Cypripedium in New England, and C parviflorum has alternate leaves, a tolerance for damp soil [there's moss in your photo], and a hood-like leaf above the bloom.
The problem I'm having is that C acaule doesn't have alternate leaves, but it does have a "hood-leaf" a lot like the one in the photo, which I don't see a good match for in photos of the other species of cyprepedium around here (but C parviflorum's seems closest).

edit: whoops! The leaves in the photo aren't really alternate, there are two in a row on the same side of the stem. Mutant territory. So I might change my guess to mutant C. acaule. Problem with that guess is that C.acaule needs good drainage... so maybe I'll go for mutant yellow.

 

[Jason Berard]

Do you think I should let someone know about this plant?
Is it that rare an occurrence either way?
I knew I'd never seen one like it.....

thanks for the thoughts folks!

 

[cushetunk]

Problem with that guess is that C.acaule needs good drainage... so maybe I'll go for mutant yellow.

I don't know, that habitat looks right for C. acaule. See the lichen in the background? I'll bet this was on a dry, acidic bluff.

Isn't C. parviflorum a calcium-loving species?

 

[Kevin Judy and Emma]

Pls

I've got to go with Pink Lady's Slipper. For some reason the leaves mutated, but otherwise it has all the characteristics.

Steve Smith may know, he is, or was the trail adopter for the Sugarloafs.

But I'll wait 'til Arghman (Jason) gives us an answer. As far as I'm concerned he's the authority, no disrespect to anyone else, but he's helped me with ID countless times.

KDT

 

[nartreb]

I think Cushetunk is right. I withdraw my parviflorum conjecture, leaving me in agreement with most others: C. acaule with a mutant leaf pattern.

 

[Jason Berard]

It was a dry acidic spot.... ledgy, lots of evergreens.....thin mat of vegetation.

 

[SAR-EMT40]

OK,

Fess up Jason. Its a photoshop plant, right.

Keith

 

[Jason Berard]

OK, its true. I photoshopped it.

No! Not Really!

Given the number of mutant plants I've seen this year, I can see why people might think that!

Quadrilliums, Albino Painted trilliums, and now Pink Lady's Slippers with misplaced leaves! I wonder if there is an increase in the mutations for environmental reasons....kind of like the floral version of the frog mutations......

As long as I don't see any frogs with leaves growing on them, or flowers with extra limbs, or eyes!

 

[arghman]

I second (third?) the mutant Cypripedium acaule hypothesis. Either that or it's a hybrid. (yeah, that's it! we blame hybrids a lot)

 

[audrey]

Is the hypothesis based on the leaves presumably NOT being alternate? If not, then what? Given that C. acaule is the only basal-leaved lady's slipper...

I do like the hybrid-mutant types, though. I'll have to assemble my double trillium, weird bunchberry, 5-petaled bluets, etc. into an album soon.

 

[arghman]

Is the hypothesis based on the leaves presumably NOT being alternate? If not, then what? Given that C. acaule is the only basal-leaved lady's slipper...

ok, you want more than a gut call... well, we have a little leftover hood where the flower was and a fuzzy stem, both look like C. acaule. The habitat is totally wrong for any of the other Cyprepedium species in the northeastern US, all of which like moist circumneutral or calcareous soil to my knowledge. The only other orchid of substantial size is Epipactis helleborine, which has multiple flowers; the other orchid lurkers of boreal forest are all small and obscure with multiple flowers (e.g. Goodyera, Listera, etc.).

I suppose it could be an Epipactis helleborine that had been chomped off at the top except for the leaves and one flower below an axillary leaf.