Cypripedium montanum
Mountain lady's-slipper
Family: Orchidaceae · Type: perennial · Native
Conservation status: CNPS 4.2
Mountain lady's-slipper is a California native perennial ranked 4.2 by CNPS, found in northwestern California, the Cascade Range, northern and central Sierra Nevada, southwestern San Francisco Bay Area, and Modoc Plateau in moist areas, dry slopes, and mixed-evergreen or conifer forest at elevations of 200 to 2,200 meters. Flowering from March to June, this orchid produces striking flowers with a large white lip slipper-shaped flower and red-brown to dark-brown twisted upper sepals and narrow, downcurved lateral petals. Growing 25 to 70 centimeters tall with an open flowering structure, the plant emerges with 4 to 6 alternate leaves. Its leaves are elliptic to ovate, measuring 5 to 18 centimeters long, typically arranged along the stem. The flower features a distinctive yellow to yellow-green staminode marked with red to purple spots, creating a complex and visually dramatic bloom.
Habitat: Moist areas, dry slopes, mixed-evergreen or conifer forest
Bloom period: Mar-Jun
Elevation: 200-2200 m
Bioregions: NW, CaR, n&c SN, sw SnFrB, MP
California counties: Modoc, Siskiyou, Sonoma, Plumas, Trinity, Madera, Humboldt, Glenn, Del Norte, Mendocino, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Shasta, Tuolumne, Mariposa, Tehama
Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.