This description provides characteristics of the fairy slipper that may be relevant to its fire ecology, and is not meant for identification. Keys for identification are available [20,21,30,37,39,43,56,73].
Fairy slipper is a native, perennial forb. It has a single, basal green leaf that is 1 to 2 inches (3-6 cm) long. The flower is usually solitary (rarely with 2 flowers), with a long, scoop-shaped lip tufted, 3 erect-spreading sepals, and 2 petals that are narrow, pointed and twisted. The fruits are erect capsules. The erect stem stands between 2 to 8 inches (5-20 cm) tall, extending from a bulb-like corm [26,57,59]. Fibrous roots are typically produced at the base of a single corm [17].
Fairy slipper has a circumboreal distribution. In North America, it occurs extensively across the United States and Canada, ranging from Alaska east to Newfoundland and south to California, New Mexico, and Michigan. Historic populations in New York and New Hampshire have been extirpated [42]. The Flora of North America. provides a distributional map for fairy slipper.
Calypso bulbosa var. americana occurs throughout most of the general distribution of the species, except in Idaho, Oregon, and California. Calypso bulbosa var. occidentalis occurs in Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, California, Alaska, and British Columbia [26].
Fire adaptations: To date (2006), published information on fairy slipper response to fire is lacking. Given that the perennating part of the fairy slipper is a corm and that corms are generally well protected, fairy slipper is probably well adapted to survive most fires [14]. Its ability to regenerate from seed after fire is undocumented. Case's [13] anecdotal statement that fairy slipper does not occur on mineral soil suggests that fairy slipper does not occur in early postfire succession; however, is it possible that fairy slipper has a seed bank [1,75] and establishes from seed in later postfire succession. Research is needed on fairy slipper's fire ecology.
FIRE REGIMES: Fairy slipper occurs in a wide range of FIRE REGIMES, varying from very infrequent, stand-replacement fire in eastern spruce-fir communities [22] to short-return interval surface fire in ponderosa pine forests of the western United States [2]. The cool and moist site characteristics of communities where fairy slipper is most frequent, such as western hemlock, Pacific silver fir, white fir, and high-elevation subalpine fir, suggest that infrequent, stand-replacing fires are most common in fairy slipper habitats.
The following table provides fire return intervals for plant communities and ecosystems where fairy slipper is important. It may not be inclusive. Find further fire regime information for the plant communities in which this species may occur by entering the species name in the FEIS home page under "Find FIRE REGIMES".
Community or Ecosystem Dominant Species Fire Return Interval Range (years) silver fir-Douglas-fir Abies amabilis-Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii >200 grand fir Abies grandis 35-200 [2] tamarack Larix laricina 35-200 [58] western larch Larix occidentalis 25-350 [3,10,19] Great Lakes spruce-fir Picea-Abies spp. 35 to >200 northeastern spruce-fir Picea-Abies spp. 35-200 [22] Engelmann spruce-subalpine fir Picea engelmannii-Abies lasiocarpa 35 to >200 [2] black spruce Picea mariana 35-200 conifer bog* Picea mariana-Larix laricina 35-200 red spruce* Picea rubens 35-200 [22] Rocky Mountain lodgepole pine* Pinus contorta var. latifolia 25-340 [9,10,69] Sierra lodgepole pine* Pinus contorta var. murrayana 35-200 western white pine* Pinus monticola 50-200 Pacific ponderosa pine* Pinus ponderosa var. ponderosa 1-47 [2] interior ponderosa pine* Pinus ponderosa var. scopulorum 2-30 [2,8,49] Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir* Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca 25-100 [2,4,5] coastal Douglas-fir* Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii 40-240 [2,54,63] California mixed evergreen Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii-Lithocarpus densiflorus-Arbutus menziesii <35 [2] redwood Sequoia sempervirens 5-200 [2,24,68] western redcedar-western hemlock Thuja plicata-Tsuga heterophylla >200 western hemlock-Sitka spruce Tsuga heterophylla-Picea sitchensis >200 mountain hemlock* Tsuga mertensiana 35 to >200 [2] *fire return interval varies widely; trends in variation are noted in the species reviewState/Region/Province
Elevation Arizona 8,500 to 10,000 feet (2,590-3,048 m) [43] California <5,900 feet (<1,800 m) [37] Colorado 7,000 to 10,000 feet (2,134-3,048 m) [33] New Mexico 7,000 to 10,000 feet (2,134-3,048 m) [51] Utah 8,900 to 10,500 feet (2,700-3,200 m) [74] Pacific Northwest (including British Columbia and Alaska) sea level to mid-montane elevations [39,59] Pryor Mountains (south-central Montana) 5,900 to 8,500 feet (1,800-2,600 m) [52] Alberta 1,600 to 5,200 feet (500-1,600 m) [15]Following anthesis, the current year's corm gives rise to one shoot bud that forms a pair of root primordia. The root buds elongate as the shoot elongates and expands to form the new corm. The parent corm persists, and its leaf withers. By the end of the growing season, the new shoot has formed, and a leaf arises from its apex and overwinters [16,17,38,59].
The following table shows anthesis periods for fairy slipper:
State/Region Flowers Arizona June-August [43] California March-July [56] Maine and Vermont May and June [65] Michigan late May-early June; fruit ripens from June-July [38] New Mexico June-August [51] Great Plains late May-June [31] Intermountain west May-July [16] Pacific northwest March-June [40] Rocky Mountains late May-June [45] Willamette, Mt. Hood, and Siuslaw National Forests, Oregon March-June [70] New England and adjacent Canada May and June [30] Great Lakes early May-early June [13]Fairy slipper reproduces by seed and vegetative means [55].
Breeding system: Fairy slipper is monoecious and cannot self-pollinate [55].
Pollination: Proctor and Harder [60] suggest that the natural unit of fairy slipper pollen deposition (the pollinium flake) contains sufficient pollen to fertilize most ovules. They also suggest that the pollen load affects the seed number. Pollination requires assistance of bumblebees [55].
Seed production: The seed production of fairy slipper is directly affected by the amount of pollen deposited on the stigma. Seed production is greater when there is more pollen deposited [60]. An average seed count per capsule ranges between 10 and 20,000 [45].
Seed dispersal: No information is available on this topic.
Seed banking has not been documented in fairy slipper. Maryland field and greenhouse studies documented a seed bank in 7 other orchid genera, however. Soil-stored seed remained viable for 3 to 7 years of the 7-year study period at germination rates ranging from 30.5% to 74.9%. In greenhouse trials, orchids growing in soil inoculated with mycorrhizal fungi showed greatly increased germination rates compared to orchids in uninoculated soil [75]. Although fairy slipper was not tested, these results suggest that fairy slipper may have a seed bank and require mycorrhizaal associates for best germination. Further research is needed on fairy slipper's life history.
Germination: Most fairy slippers require one of a number of different mycorrhizal fungi in the protocorm (1st stage of seed germination) tissue for germination to take place [17]. Arditti and others [1] report that in the greenhouse, seeds from ripe capsules germinated very poorly or not at all, while 80% of immature seed in green capsules germinated. This suggests that fairy slipper seeds become less viable over time.
Seedling establishment/growth: Seedlings are rare in the Great Lakes region, but are "much more common" in mountainous regions of the West [13].
Asexual regeneration: Fairy slipper sprouts from underground corms. Following anthesis the nodal region of the corm gives rise to a new shoot bud, which will become the new corm. The previous year's corms remain in sequence, attached to the younger corms for 2 to 4 years [17].
Calypso is a genus of orchids containing one species, Calypso bulbosa, known as the calypso orchid, fairy slipper or Venus's slipper. It is a perennial member of the orchid family found in undisturbed northern and montane forests. It has a small pink, purple, pinkish-purple, or red flower accented with a white lip, darker purple spottings, and yellow beard. The genus Calypso takes its name from the Greek signifying concealment, as they tend to favor sheltered areas on conifer forest floors. The specific epithet, bulbosa, refers to the bulb-like corms.[2]
Calypso bulbosa is a deciduous, perennial, herbaceous tuberous geophyte with a round, egg-shaped tuber as a perennial organ. It is encased in dead leaf sheaths and has elongated roots. Calypso orchids are typically 8 to 20 cm in height.[2] At the bottom there is only a single leaf, which is stalked up to about 7 cm long. The leaves are whole eliptical lanceolate to egg-shaped blade is up to 6 cm long and up to 5 cm wide.
Plant blooms with a purple-pink hermaphroditic, zygomorphic and threefold flower. The protruding petals and sepals are pink to purple in color, about 10 to 12 millimeters long and about 2 to 4 millimeters wide. The lip (labellum) is white to pink with pink or yellow spots. It has a wide, shoe-shaped cavity in the back and is about 15 to 25 millimeters long. A spur is absent. They do not bloom until May and June usually after snow melt. Each bulb lives no more than five years.[2]
Flowers
Leaf Top
Leaf underside
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White form of Calypso bulbosa var. occidentalis
The chromosomes count is 2n = 28. Since the orchid seed does not provide any nutrient tissue, germination only takes place when infected by a Mycorrhizal root fungus.
The generic name Calypso Salisb, which is still valid today. was described in 1806 by the English gardener Richard Anthony Salisbury (1761-1829) in the work "Paradisus Londinensis", which Salisbury with the then director of the Royal Botanic Gardens in London, William Jackson Hooker (1785-1865), published. Carl von Linné originally assigned the Calypso bulbosa to the genus Cypripedium in 1753. But Calypso and Cypripedium now belong to two different subfamilies.
The following generic names have been published as synonyms:
The valid botanical species name of the Calypso orchid is: Calypso bulbosa (L.) Oakes 1842.
The Basionym Cypripedium bulbosum L. 1753 was described by Linné in "Species Plantarum".
The species names listed here are used as synonyms:
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C. bulbosa in "Paradisus Londinensis"
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Illustration of Calypso bulbosa as Cypripedium bulbosum by Johann Jacob Roemer in Flora Europaea inchoata (1797)
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Illustration of Calypso bulbosa (as syn. Calypso borealis) in "Curtis's Botanical Magazine" vol.54 (N.S. 1) pl. 2763 (1827)
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Calypso bulbosa Rchb. F. by Kränzlin, Friedrich; Müller, Walter in Abbildungen der in Deutschland und den angrenzenden gebieten vorkommenden grundformen der orchideenarten (1904)
Four natural varieties and one nothovariety (variety of hybrid origin but established in the wild) are recognized:[1]
This species' range is circumpolar,[4] and includes California, the Rocky Mountain states and most of the most northerly states of the United States; most of Canada; Scandinavia much of European and Asiatic Russia; China, Mongolia, Korea and Japan—see external links for map.[1][5] It is found in subarctic swamps and marshes as well as shady places subarctic coniferous forests.
Although the calypso orchid's distribution is wide, it is very susceptible to disturbance, and is therefore classified as threatened or endangered in several U. S. states and in Sweden and Finland. It does not transplant well[2] owing to its mycorrhizal dependence on specific soil fungi. The corms have been used as a food source by North American native peoples. The Nlaka'pamux of British Columbia used it as a treatment for mild epilepsy.[6]
At least near Banff, Alberta, the calypso orchid is pollinated by bumble bees (Bombus (Pyrobombus) and B. Psithyrus). It relies on "pollination by deception", as it attracts insects to anther-like yellow hairs at the entrance to the pouch and forked nectary-like structures at the end of the pouch but produces no nectar that would nourish them. Insects quickly learn not to revisit it. Avoiding such recognition may account for some of the small variation in the flower's appearance.[5][7]
Calypso is a genus of orchids containing one species, Calypso bulbosa, known as the calypso orchid, fairy slipper or Venus's slipper. It is a perennial member of the orchid family found in undisturbed northern and montane forests. It has a small pink, purple, pinkish-purple, or red flower accented with a white lip, darker purple spottings, and yellow beard. The genus Calypso takes its name from the Greek signifying concealment, as they tend to favor sheltered areas on conifer forest floors. The specific epithet, bulbosa, refers to the bulb-like corms.
