Cypripedium kentuckiense

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Monocots
Ordo: Asparagales

Familia: Orchidaceae
Subfamilia: Cypripedioideae
Genus: Cypripedium
Subgenus: Cypripedium subg. Cypripedium
Sectio: Cypripedium sect. Cypripedium
Species: Cypripedium kentuckiense
Name

Cypripedium kentuckiense C.F.Reed, Phytologia 48: 426 (1981)
Synonymy

Heterotypic
Cypripedium daultonii V.G.Soukup, Mid-Amer. 41(1): 9 (1977), nom. illeg.
Cypripedium kentuckiense f. pricei P.M.Br., N. Amer. Native Orchid J. 4(1): 45 (1998)
Cypripedium kentuckiense f. summersii P.M.Br., N. Amer. Native Orchid J. 8: 31 (2002)

Distribution
Native distribution areas:

Northern America
North-Central U.S.A.
Oklahoma.
South-Central U.S.A.
Texas.
Southeastern U.S.A.
Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Virginia.

References: Brummitt, R.K. 2001. TDWG – World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, 2nd Edition
References
Primary references

Reed, C.F. 1981. Phytologia; Designed to Expedite Botanical Publication. New York 48: 426.

Additional references

Cribb, P. 1997. The Genus Cypripedium. Portland, Oregon: Timber Press ("Botanical Magazine Monographs"); Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew. ISBN 0-88192-403-2
Eccarius, W. 2009. Die Orchideengattung Cypripedium. Phylogenie, Taxonomie, Morphologie, Biologie, Verbreitung, Ökologie, Hybridisation. Bürgel, Germany: EchinoMedia Verlag Dr. Kerstin Ramm, 384 pp. ISBN 978-3-937107-19-6 Reference page.
Pridgeon, A.M., Cribb, P.J., Chase, M.W. & Rasmussen, F.N. (eds.) 1999. Genera Orchidacearum Volume 1: General Introduction, Apostasioideae, Cypripedioideae; page 114 ff., Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-198505-13-2

Links

Global Biodiversity Information Facility. 2020. GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset. Taxon: Cypripedium kentuckiense. Accessed: 2020 Sep 2.
Govaerts, R. et al. 2020. Cypripedium kentuckiense in Kew Science Plants of the World online. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2020 Sep 2. Reference page.
Govaerts, R. et al. 2020. Cypripedium kentuckiense in World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2020 Sep 2. Reference page.
International Plant Names Index. 2020. Cypripedium kentuckiense. Published online. Accessed: 2 Sep 2020.
The Plant List 2013. Cypripedium kentuckiense in The Plant List Version 1.1. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2020 Sep 2.
Tropicos.org 2020. Cypripedium kentuckiense. Missouri Botanical Garden. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2020 Sep 2. ]

Vernacular names

English: Kentucky lady's slipper
русский: Башмачок кентуккийский

Cypripedium kentuckiense, the Kentucky lady's slipper or southern lady's slipper, is a member of the orchid genus Cypripedium. Members of this genus are commonly referred to as lady's slipper orchids.

Originally thought to be an aberrant form of Cypripedium parviflorum var. pubescens, the morphology of C. kentuckiense suggests it is a species of its own. However, molecular evidence suggests that C. kentuckiense is more closely related to Cypripedium parviflorum var. parviflorum than it is to Cypripedium parviflorum var. pubescens.
Description

C. kentuckiense has the largest flower of in the genus Cypripedium. The petals and sepals are greenish striped and mottled with purple while the very large lip, or pouch, is a creamy ivory or pale yellow. The plant can be up to 70 cm tall and has bract leaf-like leaves that are up to 12 cm long. Each plant is usually single-flowered.

Cypripedium kentuckiense

Range

Cypripedium kentuckiense is found in a large swathe through the central portion of the United States including Texas, Mississippi, Kentucky, Ohio, Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Tennessee. Additionally, there is a small patch in Lancaster County, Virginia.[2][3][4] However, the range of this species is not continuous; it mostly consists of relatively isolated patches. It is most often found in deep ravines on acidic and sandstone soils.
References

Cypripedium kentuckiense NatureServe
US Department of Agriculture plants profile
Biota of North America Program, county distribution map

Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora, Cypripedium kentuckiense C.F.Reed

Phillip Cribb & Peter Green (1997). The Genus Cypripedium (a botanical monograph). Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, Timber Press ISBN 0-88192-403-2
Case, M.A, H.T. Mlodozeniec, L.E. Wallace, and T.W. Weldy. 1998. Conservation genetics and taxonomic status of the rare Kentucky Lady's Slipper: Cypripedium kentuckiense (Orchidaceae). American Journal of Botany, vol. 85, num. 12: 1779-1786