Cypripedium montanum
 
Mountain Lady's-Slipper

Flower Side/Top

Centre Block, Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park
20-June-2013

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Montanum: Answers to key questions in Lilies, Irises & Orchids of Saskatchewan by Vernon L. Harms and Anna L. Leighton leading to this species. The answers are in the order you would normally work through the key.
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Lateral sepals united for nearly their full length (may be separate to near the base in C. passerinum); lip obovoid to +/- spherical, sac-like, the tip rounded, not cone-like or projecting downwards; NOT [Lateral sepals separate, somewhat spreading; lip irregularly triangular in side view with a cone-like, downward-projecting tip]

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Leaves 3 or more (occasionally 2 in C. parviflorum), cauline, alternate; lip less bag-like and pendulous, with a rounded opening (orifice) and no longitudinal fissure; yellow or white with various markings (variegated white and pink in C. reginae); NOT [Leaves 2, basal; flowering stem leafless; lip bag-like and pendulous, with a longitudinal fissure extending the length of the pouch, rose-colored with conspicuous darker reddish-purple vein-markings or blotches (or rarely white)]

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Lateral petals usually +/- strongly twisted, distinctly longer than lip, linear-lanceolate, with tips acute or acuminate, often long-attenuate; plants with varying amounts of pubescence, +/- glandular; NOT [Lateral petals flat, not twisted, about equal to or shorter than lip, elliptic to ovate (or obovate), blunt-tipped to broadly acute; plants densely hairy, glandular or not]

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Lip white, often purple-veined or spotted externally or internally; staminode oblong-lanceolate to narrowly ovate; NOT [Lip yellow, with or without purple spots near the orifice; staminode triangular, usually lobed or auriculate at base]

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Lip white, with or without purple veins; sepals and lateral petals brownish to purplish, over 3 cm long; plants usually copiously glandular-pubescent, 25 cm or higher; NOT [Lip waxy white, smooth and shining externally, purple-veined within at base; sepals and lateral petals greenish-yellow, commonly less than 3 cm long; plants sparingly glandular-puberulent throughout, mostly less than 25 cm high but may be up to 40 cm]

 

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Cypripedium: Answers to key questions in Lilies, Irises & Orchids of Saskatchewan by Vernon L. Harms and Anna L. Leighton leading to this genus. The answers are in the order you would normally work through the key. 
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Plants green, with at least some green leaf-blades, these sometimes early withering or late developing; flowering stems green (pale pink to purplish-red in Calypso bulbosa), bearing sheathing bracts in some species; rootstocks not coral-like; capsules spreading to erect (occasionally drooping when old); NOT [Plants non-green saprophytes lacking leaf-blades; flowering stems yellowish to purplish-red or brown (pale greenish-yellow in C. trifid), bearing sheathing bracts; rhizomes rootless, coral-like in their branching; capsules drooping]

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Flowers 1 to 2 per stalk (occasionally more in Cypripedium reginae and C. montanum), large, showy; lip 1 cm long or longer, either inflated or broad and flat; NOT [Flowers 3 or more in a spike-like inflorescence, small, often inconspicuous; lip usually less than 1 cm long, but if longer, neither inflated nor broad and flat]

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Lip inflated, a slipper-like or sac-like pouch; flower subtended by a single, large, usually leaf-shaped floral bract; leaves usually 2 or more, present at flowering-time, (in Calypso bulbosa the broad, basal leaf that is produced the previous fall, may or may not be present at flowering time); NOT [Lip broad and flat, not inflated; flower subtended by a pair of minute, scale-like floral bracts; leaf single, emerging during or after flowering from upper sheathing bract on stem, linear, grass-like, 2-4 mm wide, folded lengthwise]

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Leaves 2 or more, cauline or basal, lacking stalk-like bases, often folded lengthwise; lip an inflated, nearly closed, sac-like pouch, lacking an apron-like lamina; petal-like staminode present above stigma; stems arising from rhizomes with slender roots; NOT [Leaf, when present, single, basal, narrowed to a stalk-like base, not folded lengthwise; lip slipper-like with a large opening and a broad "toe" covered with a whitish, apron-like lamina; staminode absent; stems arising from bulbous corms]

 

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Orchidaceae: Answers to key questions in Budd's Flora leading to this family. 
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plants NOT aquatic

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flowers irregular; NOT [flowers regular]

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perianth present, conspicuous, in two series of 3 segments, often brightly colored; NOT [perianth absent or inconspicuous]

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perianth usually large, consisting of sepals and petals usually alike, variously colored; NOT [perianth small, consisting of 3 green sepals and 3 whitish petals]

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petals NOT deciduous

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stamens 1 or 2; NOT [stamens 3 or 6]