Names and Their Meanings
Pink Lady’s-Slipper - Cypripedium acaule
Yellow Lady’s-Slipper - Cypripedium parviflorum Salisb.
Showy Lady’s-Slipper - Cypripedium reginae Walt.
Broad-Leaf Helleborine Orchid - Epipactis helleborine (L.) Crantz
Pink Lady’s-Slipper
Description
All Lady’s Slippers are referred to as Moccasin flowers, and Indigenous cultures across cultures have stories about these very special flowers. Due to their growth habits, climate change, and habitat destruction, it is important to protect, propagate when possible, and never harvest these flowers. Helleborine Orchid is a great example of a naturalized orchid that is very understated, and shows the variability of orchids in the forest. Many orchids love limestone and other rocky soil substrates, and so grow throughout the escarpment areas of the Greenbelt. Although they are often considered exotic, the Orchidaceae family is one of the biggest, most diverse, and economically important plant families around the world.
Conservation Status
In Ontario, Québec S5 (Secure) and New York S4 (Apparently Secure)
Yellow Lady’s-Slipper
Conservation Status
In Ontario S5 (Secure) and New York S4 (Apparently Secure)
Showy Lady’s-Slipper
Conservation Status
In Ontario S4 (Apparently Secure), Québec and New York S3 (Vulnerable)
Broad-Leaf Helleborine Orchid
Conservation Status
Exotic