# native MN cyps



## Mrs. Paph (Mar 22, 2007)

I'm not into the taxonomy of Cyps, but I figured there would be some people here that would like to see some pics of what I understand are two different varieties of C. calceolus. I found them growing in a ditch in Ottertail County Minnesota...I was driving, about 30 mph at the time, and all I saw was a flash of yellow, but I have slipper-raydar :rollhappy: To my credit I did look in my rear view mirror before slamming on the brakes to jump out and take pics! Has anyone else ever seen two var. growing within 2 feet of eachother before?










~Miss Paph


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## kentuckiense (Mar 22, 2007)

Very nice photos! The North American _C. calceolus_ plants are now accepted as _C. parviflorum_. The three varieties are var._parviflorum_, var. _pubescens_, and var. _makasin_.

Based on your location, the images superficially resemble var. _parviflorum_ and var. _pubescens_, respectively. However, it is pretty hard to tell without knowing if the second plant is larger.

And yes, those two varieties are known to occasionally inhabit the same area, especially in your neck of the woods. Absolutely amazing photos!


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## smartie2000 (Mar 22, 2007)

I love those photos! thanks...they are blooming already?! 
I can't wait untill my parviflorum blooms  Mine's supposed to be parviflorum var. parviflorum but I heard many cultivated are miss IDed


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## gore42 (Mar 22, 2007)

Agreed, beautiful photos! I'm going to go out in search of Cyps this spring (for photos). They're not common on the roadside here in CO, but they shouldn't be too hard to find.

- Matt


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## smartie2000 (Mar 22, 2007)

stupid newbie question...if they are already blooming where you guys are does that make it safe for me to pot my roots up now and let them grow indoors?


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## gonewild (Mar 22, 2007)

smartie2000 said:


> stupid newbie question...if they are already blooming where you guys are does that make it safe for me to pot my roots up now and let them grow indoors?


I don't think these are blooming now.


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## kentuckiense (Mar 22, 2007)

Those photos had to have been taken during a previous season. The var. _pubescens_ down here haven't even started breaking through the leaf litter.


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## smartie2000 (Mar 22, 2007)

ok good... I was scared Canada had a much longer winter than you guys for a moment


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## gonewild (Mar 22, 2007)

smartie2000 said:
 

> ok good... I was scared Canada had a much longer winter than you guys for a moment



Canada does have a longer winter. oke:


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## Heather (Mar 22, 2007)

Not that much longer than Minnesota! :rollhappy:

I'll take pics at the garden when they're blooming also. 


I love saying that.


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## likespaphs (Mar 22, 2007)

yeh, you're so lucky workin' where they propagate slippers and stuff...


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## Mrs. Paph (Mar 22, 2007)

Sorry to confuse anyone about bloom time  I just hadn't joined slipper talk yet when I took the photos, so posting them now had nothing to do w/ them blooming now...just spring fever made me think of them I suppose. These pictures were taken in mid-June I believe.
~Miss Paph


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## SlipperFan (Mar 22, 2007)

In any case, what a great find! Thanks for sharing.


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## phrag guy (Mar 23, 2007)

great photo's,spring is in the air.


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## John M (Mar 24, 2007)

Yes, great photos! They both look to me to be Cyp. parviflorum var. pubescens. It's just that you've got samples showing the extremes of colour intensity that would normally be seen in a large colony. Unless the darker one is about 1/3 the size of the lighter one, theyr'e both var. pubescens. Plus, var. parviflorum is usually even a bit darker coloured and has much more extreme and ridgid curling to the petals and a narrower pouch.

Edit: On second though....and after viewing your wonderful photos again, I would be much more comfortable in my opinion if I could see more photos of the same plants. Whole plant shots and plant and flower size measurements would help a lot. If these two plants are considerably different in size (the darker being the smaller plant and flower), then, the darker one could be a lighter version of var. parviflorum. To be sensible, there's really not enough information just as yet to decide what's what. Heck, the darker one could even be a hybrid between the two varieties = var. pubescens x var. parviflorum, or vise versa. Around here, both varieties occure in the same habitats; although, the var. parviflorum are usually finishing just as the var. pubescens are reaching their peak.


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## kentuckiense (Mar 24, 2007)

John, now that I take a look again, they both _seem_ to be var. pubescens.


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## Mrs. Paph (Mar 24, 2007)

The darker colored flowers were indeed noticeably smaller, but as someone commented, they could easily be hybrids, being as they're growing in clumps not five feet from eachother. I do have more pictures, but they're just of different angles - side, back - so probably wouldn't say a whole lot more for those who are extra curious about their identity. The other pics are a bit fuzzy too - hadn't seen wild slippers before, so perhaps I was jumping around a bit in excitement while trying to take the pics 
~Miss Paph


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## John M (Mar 24, 2007)

kentuckiense said:


> John, now that I take a look again, they both _seem_ to be var. pubescens.



If I had to come down on one side of the fence or the other, I'd agree with that. It's just that I realized I was being very certain about my identification; but really, it takes more than just a couple photos to properly identify a plant. So, I added the "disclaimer". 

BTW, I checked out my post of Cyp. parviflorum var. parviflorum from last year (on this forum) and when comparing that plant to these two, I am leaning even more to these as being pubescens. ....Although, the extra curly petals on the darker one....and now knowing that it was smaller, does strengthen the possiblity of it being a natual hybrid between the two varieties.


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## kentuckiense (Mar 24, 2007)

var. pubescens is an extremely variable taxon. I took all of the following photos from the very same population:

http://runnerzach.googlepages.com/cypripediumparviflorumvar.pubescens


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## Rayb (Mar 31, 2007)

looks like there was a good population of them there. Did you go back to see more of a blooming?


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## Mrs. Paph (Apr 1, 2007)

Don't really wanna talk about that...there was a driveway through that area of the ditch when I came back...and that's after the owners found me in their ditch taking pictures and I thoroughly explained what neat, rare, slow growing plants they were...they apparently didn't get the take-home message of that little crash course on slipper orchids...I just have to keep the memories of the pictures and hope that with all the blooms some where able to set seed and spread it around before the driveway went in the following spring. And to think I behaved and didn't try to dig up and move any of them.


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