Fairy-slipper - Calypso bulbosa

• Family: Orchidaceae (Orchid family) ^[E-flora]

Bulb Antispasmodic

• Status: Native ^[E-flora]
• General: "Perennial herb from fleshy, cylindrical or globe-shaped corms; stems 5-20 cm tall, smooth but with 2 to 4 sheathing bracts." ^{[IFBC-E-flora]}
• Leaves: "Single basal, long-stalked, blades elliptical or heart- to egg-shaped, smooth, 3-6.5 cm long, stalks 1-6 cm long." ^{[IFBC-E-flora]}
• Flowers: "Inflorescence a single, showy, terminal flower, the flowers variegated with purple, pink, and yellow; sepals and lateral petals alike, magenta with 3 darker veins, narrowly lanceolate, 12-25 mm long; lip slipper-shaped, nodding, pouched, yellowish-purple to reddish-purple, variously spotted or streaked with darker purple, 15-25 mm long, the lower portion with apron, hairy above; hood-like column purplish, 8-11 mm long, widely egg-shaped, arched over pouch." ^{[IFBC-E-flora]}
• Fruits: "Capsules, erect, ellipsoid, 2-3 cm long." ^{[IFBC-E-flora]}

Notes: Two varieties are found in BC

• 1. Bristlelike hairs on lips sparse, whitish; lip apron white, mottled or irregularly blotched with purple................... var. occidentalis (Holzinger) Boivin
  
• 1. Bristlelike hairs on lips numerous, yellow; lip apron yellowish................ var. americana (R.Br.) Luer ^{[IFBC-E-flora]}
  

Habitat / Range

"Dry to moist, mossy forests in the lowland, steppe and montane zones; var. occidentalis - common W of the Coast-Cascade Mountains; var. americana - common E of the Coast-Cascade Mountains; circumpolar; var. occidentalis - N to AK and YT and S to ID and CA, Eurasia; var. americana - N to AK, YT and NT, E to NF and S to ME, VT, MI, WI, MN, SD, NM and AZ." ^{[IFBC-E-flora]} "...emerging in autumn, persisting through winter, withering in summer." ^[WildPNW]

Ecological Indicator Information

"A shade-tolerant/intolerant, submontane to montane, circumpolar forb (transcontinental in North America). Occurs on moderately dry to fresh, nitrogen-medium soils within montane boreal, cool temperate, and cool mesothermal climates. Rare to occasional (locally abundant on eastern Vancouver Island and Queen Charlotte Islands) in mossy forest understories on water-shedding sites; its occurrence increases with increasing continentality. Characteristic of coniferous forests." ^{[IPBC-E-flora]}

Edible Uses

• Bulb: "Raw or Cooked..." ^[PFAF]

Medicinal Uses

• Antispasmodic: "The bulbs have been chewed..." ^[PFAF]

Cultivation & Propagation

Can be rare ^{[Turner&Kuhnlein]} and "It does not transplant well..." ^[Wiki]

Cultivation & Propagation

Can be rare ^{[Turner&Kuhnlein]} and "It does not transplant well[2] owing to its mycorrhizal dependence on specific soil fungi." "...it is very susceptible to disturbance" ^[Wiki] Yellow listed [Not at risk] in B.C. ^[E-flora]

References

• E-flora - Calypso bulbosa, http://linnet.geog.ubc.ca/Atlas/Atlas.aspx?sciname=Calypso%20bulbosa, Accessed June 30, 2016
• PFAF - Calypso bulbosa, http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Calypso+bulbosa, Accessed June 30, 2016
• Wiki - Calypso bulbosa, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calypso_bulbosa, Accessed June 30, 2016

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