Lady’s slipper orchid (Paphiopedilum druryi)
Facts – Lady’s slipper orchid
| Synonyms: | Cordula druryi |
|---|
| Kingdom | Plantae |
|---|---|
| Phylum | Tracheophyta |
| Class | Liliopsida |
| Order | Orchidales |
| Family | Orchidaceae |
| Genus | Paphiopedilum (1) |
| Size | Leaf length: 30 cm (2) Bloom width: 7.5 cm (2) |
Status – Lady’s slipper orchid
The lady’s slipper orchid is listed on Appendix I of CITES (1).
Description – Lady’s slipper orchid
This rare orchid has particularly exotic flowers with dark yellow petals surrounding a slipper-like pouch. Maroon stripes run from the heart of the flower to the tips of the three outer petals, and the centre is speckled with maroon.
Range – Lady’s slipper orchid
The lady’s slipper orchid was once fairly extensive in its habitat in Southern India, but is now rarely seen (2).
Habitat – Lady’s slipper orchid
Found at high altitude amongst dried grasses growing in poor and shallow limestone soil (2).
Biology – Lady’s slipper orchid
Threats – Lady’s slipper orchid
All land in the range of the lady’s slipper orchid is under intense cultivation for agriculture, threatening the persistence of this beautiful species (2).
Conservation – Lady’s slipper orchid
No direct conservation action has been targeted at this species, other than its listing on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, which prohibits all international trade (2).
Authentication
Glossary
- Epiphyte: a plant that uses another plant, typically a tree, for its physical support, but which does not draw nourishment from it.
- Rhizome: thickened, branching, creeping storage stems. Although most rhizomes grow laterally just along or slightly below the soil's surface, some grow several inches deep. Roots grow from the underside of the rhizome, and during the growing season new growth sprouts from buds along the top. A familiar rhizome is the ginger used in cooking.
References
-
CITES (March, 2005)
http://www.cites.org - Mammen, J. and Mammen, V. (1974) Rediscovering Paphiopedilum druryi on Southern India. Orchid Digest, 38(1): 31 - 36.
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