Name:Orchid family

Common Names: American Valerian, Moccasin Flower, Noah's Ark, Nerve-root.

Parts Used: Root

Description: Pink Lady's Slipper is a large, showy perennial wildflower belonging to the orchid
family. Flowers in June, pink with reddish veins; lower petal is pouch-like, inflated, about 6 cm long; lateral petals narrow and longer than sepals; sepals are petal-like, greenish-purple, lance-shaped, 3-5 cm long. Flower appears on a long stalk, May-July. Leaves (2) are basal, alternate, simple, toothless, oblong, taper to a point; up to 20 cm long and 7 cm wide, broad with prominent parallel veins. Height: 10-55 cm.

Habitat: Swamps, bogs, wet roadside ditches, requires sun, often found growing in a thin layer of pine needles over rocks. Pink Lady's Slipper grows in calcium-containing soils, in forested areas. The orchid lives in a special relationship with soil fungi (Rhizoctonia), which helps the seeds germinate and grow. The fungus nourishes the seedling for 2 or 3 years before the plant has leaves large enough to sustain itself by photosynthesis. Because of this special relationship, it is virtually impossible to transplant this wildflower into your garden. Please leave it in the wild. Lady's Slipper plants can take years to mature, and their average life span is about 20 years. That is a good reason NOT to pick the flowers.

Cultivation: Cultivation is challenging, and the plant has not been widely grown for the medicinal herb market. Perhaps the greatest threat to this plant is habitat loss, since it grows only in a very selective habitat

Grows With: Bunchberry, Clintonia, Starflower and other plants of the coniferous forest.

Propagation and Reproduction: It has thus far proven nearly impossible to cultivate in a way that would make it feasible as a cash crop. It requires that certain fungal mycelia be present in the soil, so it is almost necessary to grow it in a forested area which either does contain wild Lady's Slipper, or is at least the type of environment where it is normally found. Usually this means a wet forest area, with dappled shade. Success has been reported in growing Lady's Slippers in a controlled laboratory environment, but the cost of this generally makes it unprofitable as a medicinal herb.

Constituents: Tannin, resins.

Uses: The root of Lady's Slipper has traditionally been used as a remedy for nervousness, tooth pain, and muscle spasms. In the 1800's and 1900's it (and other species of the genus) were widely used as a substitute for the European plant Valerian (also a sedative) for nervous headache, hysteria, insomnia, and "female" diseases. Nervine, antispasmodic, sedative; over-harvesting is leading to species endangerment. May be helpful for edema. 

Miscellaneous: The plant is still occasionally gathered from the wild for private use by individuals, and is sometimes picked as an ornamental. In the Language of Flowers, Lady's Slipper means "capricious beauty" and "win me and wear me".

Caution: Because this plant has an extremely long life cycle, taking many years to go from seed to a mature, seed-bearing plant, and because it will grow only in very specific circumstances, the harvest of wild Lady's Slipper root is often not sustainable. Cypripedium, along with other orchid species, is listed in Appendix II of CITES, making it illegal to export any part of the plant without a permit. In 1988, the American Herbal Products Association issued a self-regulatory initiative for its members requiring them to refrain from trade in wild-harvested Cypripedium. Today, there are only a few companies selling Lady's Slipper or products containing Lady's Slipper. Warning: Contact may cause dermatitis.