page_title: Cypripedium
section_title: Species and natural hybrids
hierarchical_section_title: Cypripedium / Species and natural hybrids
context_page_description: Cypripedium is a genus of 58 species and nothospecies of hardy orchids; it is one of five genera that together compose the subfamily of lady's slipper orchids. They are widespread across much of the Northern Hemisphere, including most of Europe and Africa, Russia, China, Central Asia, Canada the United States, Mexico, and Central America. They are most commonly known as slipper orchids or lady's slipper orchids; other common names include moccasin flower, camel's foot, squirrel foot, steeple cap, Venus' shoes, and whippoorwill shoe. An abbreviation used in trade journals is "Cyp." The genus name is derived from Ancient Greek Κύπρις, an early reference in Greek myth to Aphrodite, and πέδιλον, meaning "sandal".
  Some species grow in the tundra in Alaska and Siberia, which is an unusually cold habitat for orchids. Other species occur well into tropical areas such as Honduras and Myanmar.
  Some of the northern species can withstand extreme cold, growing under the snow and blooming when the snow melts. But, in the wild, some have become rare and close to extinction, due to an ever shrinking natural habitat and over-collection, people prizing the flowers for their beauty.
context_section_description: There are 58 currently recognized species and nothospecies (naturally occurring hybrids) recognized in this genus, as of May 2014:
  Cypripedium acaule – Mocassin flower, Pink lady's slipper, Two-leaved lady's slipper (C. and E. Canada, NC & E USA)
  Cypripedium × alaskanum – (C. guttatum × C. yatabeanum; Alaska)
  Cypripedium × andrewsii – (C. candidum × C. parviflorum var. pubescens) (E Canada, NC & NE USA)
  Cypripedium arietinum – Ram's-head lady's slipper (C & E Canada, NC & NE USA)
  Cypripedium bardolphianum – (China)
  Cypripedium calceolus – Yellow lady's slipper (Europe to Japan)
  Cypripedium calcicolum – (China)
  Cypripedium californicum – California lady's slipper (Oregon, N. California)
  Cypripedium candidum – Small white lady slipper (SE Canada, NC & E USA)
  Cypripedium × catherinae – (C. macranthon × C. shanxiense; Russian Far East)
  Cypripedium × columbianum – (C. montanum × C. parviflorum var. pubescens; W Canada, NW USA)
  Cypripedium cordigerum – Heart-Lip lady's slipper (N Pakistan to Himalaya, S Tibet)
  Cypripedium daweishanense (S.C.Chen & Z.J.Liu) S.C.Chen & Z.J.Liu (2005) – (Yunnan, China South-Central)
  Cypripedium debile – Frail lady's slipper (Japan, Taiwan, China)
  Cypripedium dickinsonianum – (Mexico (S Chiapas) to Guatemala)
  Cypripedium elegans – (E Nepal to China)
  Cypripedium fargesii – (China)
  Cypripedium farreri – (China)
  Cypripedium fasciculatum – Brownie lady's slipper, Clustered lady's slipper (W USA)
  Cypripedium fasciolatum (China)
  Cypripedium flavum – Yellow lady's slipper (SE Tibet, SC China)
  Cypripedium formosanum – Formosa lady's slipper (C Taiwan)
  Cypripedium forrestii – (China)
  Cypripedium franchetii – Franchet's lady's slipper (C & SC China)
  Cypripedium froschii – (China)
  Cypripedium guttatum – Spotted lady's slipper (European Russia to Korea, Alaska to Yukon)
  Cypripedium henryi – Henry's lady's slipper (C China)
  Cypripedium x herae – (C.parviflorum x C.reginae) (Manitoba, Canada)
  Cypripedium himalaicum – (SE Tibet to Himalaya)
  Cypripedium irapeanum – Pelican Orchid, Irapeao lady's slipper (Mexico to Honduras)
  Cypripedium japonicum – Japan lady's slipper (China, Korea, Japan)
  Cypripedium kentuckiense – Kentucky lady's slipper, Southern lady's slipper (C & E USA)
  Cypripedium lentiginosum – (China)
  Cypripedium lichiangense S.C.Chen & P.J.Cribb – (China (SW Sichuan, NW Yunnan), NE Myanmar)
  Cypripedium ludlowii – (SE Tibet)
  Cypripedium macranthos – Large-flowered lady's slipper (E Belarus to temperate E Asia)
  Cypripedium malipoense S.C.Chen & Z.J.Liu – (Yunnan, China South-Central)
  Cypripedium margaritaceum – Pearl-white lady's slipper (China)
  Cypripedium micranthum – (China)
  Cypripedium molle – (Mexico)
  Cypripedium montanum – Large lady's slipper, Mountain lady's slipper, White lady's slipper, Moccasin flower (Alaska to California)
  Cypripedium palangshanense – (China)
  Cypripedium parviflorum Salisb. – (Greater) yellow lady's slipper, moccasin flower, or hairy yellow ladyslipper (Canada, E USA)
  Cypripedium passerinum – Franklyn's lady's slipper, small white Northern lady's slipper, sparrow's egg lady's slipper (Alaska to Canada, Montana)
  Cypripedium plectrochilum – (N Myanmar to SC China)
  Cypripedium reginae Walter – Large white lady's slipper, Queen's lady's slipper, showy lady's slipper (C & E Canada,  E. USA)
  Cypripedium segawai – (EC Taiwan)
  Cypripedium shanxiense – (China to N Japan)
  Cypripedium sichuanense – (China)
  Cypripedium subtropicum – (SE. Tibet)
  Cypripedium taibaiense – (China)
  Cypripedium tibeticum – (Sikkim to C China)
  Cypripedium × ventricosum – (Russia to Korea)
  Cypripedium wardii – (SE. Tibet, China)
  Cypripedium × wenqingiae – (C. farreri × C. tibeticum; China)
  Cypripedium wumengense – (China)
  Cypripedium yatabeanum – (Russian Far East to N & NC Japan, Aleutian Islands to SW Alaska)
  Cypripedium yunnanense – (SE Tibet, China)
caption: Yellow lady's slipper
  (Cypripedium calceolus)
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