SPECIES:  Cypripedium passerinum

• Introductory
• Distribution and Occurrence
• Management Considerations
• Botanical and Ecological Characteristics
• Fire Ecology
• Fire Effects
• References

Introductory
SPECIES: Cypripedium passerinum



AUTHORSHIP AND CITATION : 
Williams, Tara Y. 1990. Cyrpipedium passarinum. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. 
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, 
Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). 
Available: http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/ [].




ABBREVIATION : 
CYPPAS

SYNONYMS : 
NO-ENTRY


SCS PLANT CODE : 
   CYPA5


COMMON NAMES : 
   spotted lady's slipper
   sparrow's egg lady's slipper


TAXONOMY : 
The currently accepted scientific name of spotted lady's slipper is
Cypripedium passerinum Richards.


LIFE FORM : 
Forb

FEDERAL LEGAL STATUS : 
No special status

OTHER STATUS : 
USFS Region 1:  MT - sensitive list [12].

Spotted lady's slipper is globally secure but critically imperiled in
Montana [11].  It is at the edge ot its range in Glacier National Park
[8].

DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Cypripedium passerinum



GENERAL DISTRIBUTION : 
Spotted lady's slipper is distributed from Alaska to Quebec south to
southeastern British Columbia, northern Montana, and regions north of
Lake Superior [12].

Occurrence in Glacier National Park:  east of Kishenehn Creek over
Starvation Ridge [7].


ECOSYSTEMS : 
   FRES11  Spruce - fir
   FRES23  Fir - spruce


STATES : 
     AK  MT  AB  BC  MB  NT  ON  PQ  SK  YT



BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS : 
   8  Northern Rocky Mountains


KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS : 
   K015  Western spruce - fir forest
   K094  Conifer bog


SAF COVER TYPES : 
    37  Northern white cedar
   107  White spruce
   206  Engelmann spruce - subalpine fir


SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES : 
NO-ENTRY


HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES : 
NO-ENTRY

MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS
SPECIES: Cypripedium passerinum





IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE : 
NO-ENTRY


PALATABILITY : 
NO-ENTRY


NUTRITIONAL VALUE : 
The only herbivores reported on spotted lady's slipper were insects--two
moths (Lepidoptera), a sawfly (Diptera), and a leaf minor (Hymenoptera)
[5].


COVER VALUE : 
NO-ENTRY


VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES : 
NO-ENTRY


OTHER USES AND VALUES : 
NO-ENTRY


OTHER MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
Spotted lady's slipper is threatened by oil and gas exploration [12].
There are only two known occurrences of this orchid in the continental
United States; these sites should be protected [7].

The only reported herbivores using spotted lady's slipper were insects:
two moths, a sawfly, and a leaf miner [5].

BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Cypripedium passerinum



GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS : 
Spotted lady's slipper is a perennial orchid which grows 4 to 14 inches
(10-35 cm) tall.  The leaves are 2.5 to 8 inches (6-20 cm) long.  The
flowers are usually single.  The sepals are green, the petals white.
The lower petal is pouchlike and has deep reddish-purple spots inside.
The capsule is erect and ovoid [4,12].  Spotted lady's slipper has
shallow rhizomes.  Plants will grow in groups of 1 to 137.  The
horizontal rhizomes produce a new aerial leaf shoot each year [5].


RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM : 
   Geophyte


REGENERATION PROCESSES : 
Vegetative recruitment is more prevalent for spotted lady's slipper than
seedling establishment.  Some flowers may be lost to insect damage;
flowers not damaged have high capsule set.  The plant is
self-compatible, but seed set for these is unknown.  Normally, there are
thousands of tiny seeds per capsule; seeds are wind dispersed.  It can
take 15 years from seedling establishment to flowering.  The flower exit
hole is only 2.5 to 3.0 mm wide, which restricts the pollinator size.
In a study set up to determine insect pollinators of spotted lady's
slipper, none were observed, suggesting that the plants could have been
self-pollinating [5].


SITE CHARACTERISTICS : 
Spotted lady's slipper grows in moist to wet spruce forests at low
elevations.  It often occurs on calcareous substrates.  It also grows on
sand dune complexes and near streambanks or lakeshores.  It grows more
rapidly in the open than in the shade [5,7,11].  Spotted lady's slipper
has been reported at 4,200 to 5,300 feet (1,280-1,615 m) in Montana
[12].

Common associates include white spruce (Picea glauca), Engelmann spruce
(P. engelmannii), western redcedar (Thuja occidentalis), red-osier
dogwood (Cornus sericea), willows (Salix spp.), horsetail (Equisetum
spp.), longtube twinflower (linnaea borealis), sedges (Carex spp.),
one-sided pyrola (Pyrola secunda), and moss carpet (Pleurozium
schreberi) [5,11].


SUCCESSIONAL STATUS : 
Obligate Initial Community Species

Seedlings of spotted lady's slipper were found only on early
successional sites.  As succession progressed, the environment became
less suitable for seedlings and more suitable for mature plants [5].


SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT : 
Flowering of spotted lady's slipper is highly variable but usually
begins in mid-June.  In Ontario, immature capsules were present in early
July but were not mature by July 19.  Some capsules did not dehisce for
a full year.  Flowers were open to pollination about 1 week after
budding.  They wilted 2 to 8 (usually 4 or 5) days later.  The time of
capsule opening and seed dispersal varied widely [5].

FIRE ECOLOGY
SPECIES: Cypripedium passerinum



FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS : 
NO-ENTRY


POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY : 
NO-ENTRY

FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Cypripedium passerinum



IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT : 
NO-ENTRY


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT : 
NO-ENTRY


PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE : 
NO-ENTRY


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE : 
NO-ENTRY


FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
NO-ENTRY

REFERENCES
SPECIES: Cypripedium passerinum



REFERENCES : 

 .  Bernard, Stephen R.; Brown, Kenneth F. 1977. Distribution of mammals,
       reptiles, and amphibians by BLM physiographic regions and A.W. Kuchler's
       associations for the eleven western states. Tech. Note 301. Denver, CO:
       U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management. 169 p. 
       [434]

 .  Eyre, F. H., ed. 1980. Forest cover types of the United States and
       Canada. Washington, DC: Society of American Foresters. 148 p.  [905]

 .  Garrison, George A.; Bjugstad, Ardell J.; Duncan, Don A.; [and others].
       1977. Vegetation and environmental features of forest and range
       ecosystems. Agric. Handb. 475. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of
       Agriculture, Forest Service. 68 p.  [998]

 .  Hitchcock, C. Leo; Cronquist, Arthur; Ownbey, Marion. 1969. Vascular
       plants of the Pacific Northwest. Part 1: Vascular cryptograms,
       gymnosperms, and monocotyledons. Seattle, WA: University of Washington
       Press. 914 p.  [1169]

 .  Keddy, C. J.; Keddy, P. A.; Planck, R. J. 1983. An ecological study of
       Cypripedium passerinum Rich. (sparrow's egg lady-slipper, Orchidaceae)
       on the north shore of Lake Superior. Canadian Field-Naturalist. 97(3):
       268-274.  [13203]

 .  Kuchler, A. W. 1964. Manual to accompany the map of potential vegetation
       of the conterminous United States. Special Publication No. 36. New York:
       American Geographical Society. 77 p.  [1384]

 .  Lesica, Peter. 1984. Rare vascular plants of Glacier National Park,
       Montana. Missoula, MT: University of Montana, Department of Botany. 27
       p.  [12049]

 .  Lesica, P.; Moore, G.; Peterson, K. M.; Rumely, J. H. (Montana Rare
       Plant Project). 1984. Vascular plants of limited distribution in
       Montana. Monograph No. 2. Montana Academy of Sciences, Supplement to the
       Proceedings, Volume 43. Bozman, MT: Montana State University, Montana
       Academy of Sciences. 61 p.  [11656]

 .  Moss, E. H. 1955. The vegetation of Alberta. Botanical Review. 21(9):
       493-567.  [6878]

.  Raunkiaer, C. 1934. The life forms of plants and statistical plant
       geography. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 632 p.  [2843]

.  Shelly, J. Stephen, compiler. 1990. Plant species of special concern.
       Helena, MT: Montana Natural Heritage Program. 20 p.  [12960]

.  U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Region. 1988.
       Sensitive plant field guide [Idaho]. Missoula, MT.  [12274]

.  U.S. Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service. 1982.
       National list of scientific plant names. Vol. 1. List of plant names.
       SCS-TP-159. Washington, DC. 416 p.  [11573]