Cypripedium yatabeanum Makino
Palomino Lady's Slipper
Facts About
Accepted Synonyms: Cypripedium guttatum var. yatabeanum
Cypripedium yatabeanum, commonly known as the Palomino Lady’s Slipper, is found in Alaska from Kodiak Island to the Aleutian Islands, as well as in Japan and Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula, Sakhalin Island, Siberia, and the Kuril Islands. This lady's slipper can be distinguished from the closely related C. guttatum by its yellow-green flower color and its narrower, longer lip. It grows in mesic tundra, swales, marsh borders, hillsides, and sand dune beach meadows. Cypripedium × alaskanum is a natural hybrid between C. guttatum and C. yatabeanum, with splotches of olive-yellow, yellow-brown, brown-purple or maroon, found on the Alaska Peninsula and in coastal southcentral Alaska bogs.
Cypripedium yatabeanum is apparently secure (Japan, Siberia), although it is critically imperiled within Alaska.
Pollination
Pollinator information for this orchid has not been reported in North America but this orchid forms a natural hybrid, C. × alaskanum, with Cypripedium guttatum, which suggests these two species share a common insect pollinator on the Alaska Peninsula and in coastal southcentral Alaskan bogs.
Ecosystem Type
Marshes, meadows, tundra
Characteristics
- Habitat:
- terrestrial
- Leaf arrangement:
-
- alternate
- basal
- Number of leaves on stem:
- two
- Form of the labellum:
- the labellum is pouch-like
- Labellum outline:
- the labellum is simple
- Main color of labellum:
- white
- Nectar spur:
- absent
- Inflorescence type:
- the inflorescence has one flower or a pair of flowers
- Labellum characteristics:
- the labellum is saccate
- Labellum length:
- 17–32 mm
- Sepal length:
- 15–23 mm
- Plant height:
- 17–32 cm
Native to North America
North American Conservation Status & Distribution
Conservation Status
| Conservation and Wetland Status | |
|---|---|
| Global Rank | N/A |
| US Status | N/A |
| Canadian Status | N/A |