Showy Lady's Slipper

Showy lady’s slippers are the tallest native northern orchid, and many believe they are the most stunning. The specific epithet reginae is the Latin meaning "queen", and once seen in the wild, it is easy to understand why. Plants consist of a stout, hairy, leafy stalk usually bearing one large flower (or up to three). The flower is six-parted, with a pouch, or labellum, that’s one to two inches long, spherical, or nearly so, with in-rolled edges, white suffused with deep rose to magenta. Petals and sepals are white, flat, and oblong. Leaves are large, elliptical, clasping, heavily ribbed, and hairy.

These perennials bloom between May and August, depending upon location; individual flowers generally last 7-14 days. They are reported to be pollinated by bees; two species of megachilid bees have been observed pollinating them. There are also reports of a small European skipper (a non-native butterfly common throughout much of the showy lady’s slipper’s range) getting trapped in the labellum, preventing pollination by the bees. There has been some speculation that this could lead to a decline of this species’ ability to set seed and reproduce.