Cypripedium acaule

[Jmoney]

Wish I could get outdoors more but in my limited travels here in central Connecticut I have come across several forests that harbor the lovely Cyp. acaule. I look forward to visiting these areas every May!

aka the pink lady's slipper. Requires acid pH to grow, hence their predilection to growing amongst the decaying needles in pine forests.

[Roberta]

Thanks so much for these photos! A magnificent species... and one that I'll never be able to grow, so I enjoy the in-situ photos even more.

[MCD]

Great pictures! I'm jealous, mine haven't even broken ground yet.

[Jmoney]

Originally Posted by Roberta

Thanks so much for these photos! A magnificent species... and one that I'll never be able to grow, so I enjoy the in-situ photos even more.

yw! I don't think this species is easy to grow for anyone due to the acid requirement. Years back I thought about cultivating a patch in my garden (with seed grown plants of course) but found literature that plants quickly succumb to fungal infection unless you can keep the substrate super-acidic. I am still hoping to grow other cyp species in my garden, one day!!!

[Roberta]

Originally Posted by Jmoney

yw! I don't think this species is easy to grow for anyone due to the acid requirement. Years back I thought about cultivating a patch in my garden (with seed grown plants of course) but found literature that plants quickly succumb to fungal infection unless you can keep the substrate super-acidic. I am still hoping to grow other cyp species in my garden, one day!!!

Where do you live? The reason that I am unlikely to be able to grow them is the same reason why I can't grow tulips... winter is 'way too warm. (Even if I could manage the right substrate with the right mycorrhizae, meeting winter temperature environment would be a heavy lift, pretty impossible actually...) Can't have everything <sigh>

[Jmoney]

Originally Posted by Roberta

Where do you live? The reason that I am unlikely to be able to grow them is the same reason why I can't grow tulips... winter is 'way too warm. (Even if I could manage the right substrate with the right mycorrhizae, meeting winter temperature environment would be a heavy lift, pretty impossible actually...) Can't have everything <sigh>

central CT, so maybe they would need the cold winter dormancy to grow (bloom) properly. not sure if cyps are native to where you are?

[Subrosa]

Originally Posted by Jmoney

yw! I don't think this species is easy to grow for anyone due to the acid requirement. Years back I thought about cultivating a patch in my garden (with seed grown plants of course) but found literature that plants quickly succumb to fungal infection unless you can keep the substrate super-acidic. I am still hoping to grow other cyp species in my garden, one day!!!

The acid requirement is easy to fulfill in a typical Sphagnum bog set up used for carnivorous plants, and acaule does naturally grow on the edges of bogs. This plant has done well in a higher area of my bog, well above the maximum water level since I collected it from a neighbor's property 4 years ago. It was a small, prebloom plant that just flowered last year for the first time. This year it's developing an offset, so in a couple years I should see multiple spikes. In the constantly moist conditions it tolerates full sun:

[Jmoney]

Originally Posted by Subrosa

The acid requirement is easy to fulfill in a typical Sphagnum bog set up used for carnivorous plants, and acaule does naturally grow on the edges of bogs. This plant has done well in a higher area of my bog, well above the maximum water level since I collected it from a neighbor's property 4 years ago. It was a small, prebloom plant that just flowered last year for the first time. This year it's developing an offset, so in a couple years I should see multiple spikes. In the constantly moist conditions it tolerates full sun:

that's great! peat moss in the mix? I dabble with sarracenia and have a few half barrel planters, kind of a mini-bog setup

[Subrosa]

Originally Posted by Jmoney

that's great! peat moss in the mix? I dabble with sarracenia and have a few half barrel planters, kind of a mini-bog setup

Yup. It grows right next to Sarracenia. Imo a half barrel would be the smallest container I would consider for acaule, due to its root system. They don't send roots deep into the substrate like most plants. The roots radiate out from the crown like spokes of a wheel, a few inches deep. A first bloom plant will have a root system close to 3' in diameter, so they do need some room. Other plants can grow within that circle.

[Keysguy]

I spend just my summers now in NH but had lived here year round for over 30 years prior to retiring 7 years ago. The woods up here are full of acaule if you know where to look. I return every year in late May and checking in on the local populations is one of the first things I do when I return.

When we moved to our summer retirement condo complex here on a small lake a few years ago, I took a little hike around the property (180 acres) and found several colonies of acaule. Even though we think of them as heavily shaded plants, it's amazing how much site diversity they inhabit just here on our property. One colony is in full day-long sun by the beach. I ended up writing an article for the NHOS newsletter about that but to JMoney's point, the two constants at each colony was the underlying bank run granite gravel which provides instant and complete drainage and the overlaying accumulation of white pine and hemlock needles.

While we often think that pine needles add acidity to the soil, several scientific studies have shown they actually do not by any appreciable amount. What this does tell us though is just that acaule shares the exact same preferred environmental conditions (high acidity and absence of standing water) as those species of other plants surrounding them.