The lady's slipper is a perennial evergreen with leaves of green, dark green or grayish marble color up to 30 cm long. Each rosette of leaves produces one peduncle up to 40 cm tall, which can be single-flowered or multi-flowered. Flowers from 7 to 12 cm in diameter, with a wide variety of colors: from white, purple and yellow to brown and green, often spotted or striped flowers.
The Legend of the Lady's Shoe
In ancient Greek mythology, there is a legend about the Venus shoe, more precisely, about the shoes of Venus, which turned into a beautiful flower.
The storm caught Venus and Adonis during the hunt, they hid from the rain in a secluded quiet place and indulged in love joys. A passing man did not notice Venus with his beloved, but saw her slipper of pure gold thrown on the ground. And, as soon as the commoner stretched out his hand to pick up the shoe, it instantly turned into a flower resembling a shoe.
Lady's slipper: plant species
The plant includes in its genus about 50 species common in the North and South America, Europe and Asia, where in natural conditions they grow from the forest-tundra to the tropics.
Lady's slipper flower close-up on the picture.
Common types:
Lady's slipper, stemless (Cypripedium acaule) - with a ground stem and two folded, oblong or broadly oval, lanceolate, greenish-purple leaves up to 20 cm long and up to 8 cm wide. Peduncle up to 35 cm tall with a large, fragrant flower. Highly decorative, blooms in late spring and early summer.
Ramhead (Cypripedium arietinum) - up to 30 cm tall with thin, weak stems. Leaves are alternate, elliptical or lanceolate, up to 10 cm long and up to 5 cm wide. The flowers are apical, solitary, small. Blooms in late spring.
California (Cypripedium californicum) - stem with flower up to 80 cm tall, strong with 3-4 leaves. Leaves are alternate, oval, sharp, up to 10 cm long. Inflorescence is a sparse raceme, consisting of 4-12 flowers, with leaf-shaped, round bracts. Flowers up to 4 cm in diameter on long stalks. Petals and sepals are of the same length (up to 1.5 cm), yellowish-green in color. Blooms in late spring.
Snow white (Cypripedium candidum) - a plant with a short rhizome up to 30 cm tall. In the lower part, the stem is covered with several scaly pharynx. Leaves (3-4 pcs.) Lanceolate or elliptical, pointed or sharp, up to 12 cm long and up to 4 cm wide. Flowers are small, solitary, apical up to 2 cm in diameter. Sepals are lanceolate, greenish, with purple spots. The flowering period is late spring-early summer.
Tuberous (Cypripedium fasciculatum) - up to 40 cm in height with a woolly pubescent stem, two opposite broadly oval leaves located in the middle of the stem, up to 10 cm long and up to 6 cm wide. The inflorescence is straight, stable, has from 1 to 4 greenish flowers. Bracts are lanceolate. Petals and sepals are lanceolate, with brown veins, up to 2 cm long.
Lady's slipper (Cypripedium calceolus L)
Perennial, rhizome, herbaceous plant orchid family, up to 50 cm tall. The lady's slipper has a thick, short, creeping rhizome, consisting of two internodes, preserved from each annual growth. Accessory roots sinuous and long, up to 30 cm. Stem with brownish cups at the base, with short glandular hairs along the entire length. Leaves are alternate, elliptical, pointed on 2 sides, slightly hairy along the edge, up to 18 cm long and up to 8 cm wide. The flowers are bisexual, zygomorphic, with large leaf-like bracts. Tepals are red-brown, the lip is swollen, light yellow. The ovary is inferior, glandular-pubescent. The fruit is a capsule.
Large-flowered lady's slipper (Cypripedium macranthon)
It is a plant with a thick shortened rhizome and thin, winding filamentous roots. Stem up to 45 cm high with brownish shoes at the base, higher with 3-4 glandular-hairy sessile leaves, with stem-embracing bases, oval and pointed, up to 15 cm long and up to 8 cm wide.
Flowers are solitary with large leaf-like bracts. The perianth is violet or lilac-pink with dark veins. Tepals are divergent. The lip is up to 7 cm long, strongly swollen, with a small opening, the edges of which are wrapped inward, forming an extended rim. Two stamens, the third turned white with purple-purple blotches of staminodes up to 1.5 cm long. The ovary is not twisted. The stigma is corymbose. Large-flowered lady's slipper blooms in June-July.
Lady's slipper spotted (Cypripedium guttatum) or speckled
A small plant with a long creeping rhizome. Stem 15 to 30 cm tall. Leaves are elliptical, pointed up to 12 cm long, hairy from below along the veins and edge. Bracts ovate-lanceolate, leaf-shaped.
The upper outer perianth is pointed, elliptical-ovate, up to 3 cm long, white or with purple-pink spots. The lower one, densely fused from two leaves, is greenish, glandular-pubescent, up to 2 cm long. The lateral tepals are glabrous, white with large purple-pink blotches. The ovary is fusiform, densely and finely glandular-pubescent. The spotted lady's slipper blooms from late May to mid-June.
Growing orchids: lady's slipper
The flower is very rare and very difficult to propagate and grow. The whimsical flower loves shade and is unstable to winds, it must be covered and protected from pests such as snails or aphids. The lady's slipper prefers growing in a complex substrate consisting of sphagnum, bark, charcoal with the addition of chalk or dolomite flour... With room maintenance, you can increase the proportion of sphagnum moss for greater moisture capacity. A coarser substrate is placed at the bottom, and moisture-absorbing and shallow closer to the surface.
The roots of the plant develop horizontally, therefore, or is needed.
For normal growth and flowering, the flower must create the appropriate conditions:
- for thermophilic plant species, the air temperature is daylight the day should be in the range from +22 to + 32 ° С, at night from +16 to + 18 ° С, but not lower than + 15 ° С;
- for species and varieties with monochromatic leaves, the temperature during the day is from +16 to + 22 ° С, at night from +8 to + 10 ° С, but not lower than + 6 ° С.
- not to allow even a short-term drop in temperature below + 5 ° С - leads to the death of the plant;
- it is necessary to provide bright illumination (not direct sunlight) of the flower for 12-14 hours a day.
Lady's slipper: plant care
The flower does not have storage organs - regular, abundant watering is needed to keep the substrate in a constantly moist state. Water should be room temperature and should not fall on the base of the stem when watering, which could lead to rotting.
A lady's slipper requires care with regular (1 time in 15-20 days) feeding in the summer months with a weak solution of a complex mineral fertilizer applied with water during irrigation.
The flower multiplies by dividing the bush during transplantation.
The transplant is carried out as needed (usually once every 1-3 years), while special care must be taken to exclude the possibility of damage to the roots, which can lead to disease or death of the plant.
The lady's slipper is a plant of the orchid family.
Plants from the genus Venus slipper can be called one of the most beautiful flowers taiga. These include Lady's slipper is real, Lady's slipper is large-flowered and Lady's slipper is spotted.
Rod venus slipper Are herbaceous orchid family plants... All of them are rare, but a real slipper is more common than others. All members of the orchid family amaze us with their beautiful flowers with a pleasant, delicate aroma. The name of the plant - "lady's slipper", came from the depths of centuries. An old legend says that once the goddess of beauty Venus, fleeing from her pursuer, hid in the northern forests among swampy swamps and dark, tall trees... Suddenly, the beautiful Venus stumbled, and the golden shoe with red satin ribbons flew off her leg and turned into a beautiful flower.
But after all lady's shoe flower really looks very much like a graceful shoe of a beauty. Therefore, the people called her "theotokos' boots", "Mary's shoe", "cuckoo's shoe". It is curious that in England this flower is called "ladies' shoes", in America - "moccasins", and botanists gave the plant the name cypridine (venus) slipper. Venus was especially revered on the island of Cyprus, where Cyprida was called. Moreover, it is not for nothing that the legend speaks of swamps among dense forests. It is in such places, where there is shade, coolness and a lot of moisture, that northern orchids appeared. These places are rarely visited by pollinating insects: flower flies, butterflies, bees. Therefore, the lady's shoe needs a bright, noticeable flower with pleasant aroma... In addition, to enable insects to find the plant by its scent, the lady's slipper blooms for a long time, almost a month.
And Venus does not favor slipper herbivorous forest animals. In order not to be eaten by moose or hares, it accumulates a bitter poisonous substance in its leaves. This substance is a real protective agent. In addition to insects, the northern orchid is "friends" only with myceliums. After the orchid seeds get into favorable conditions, for another three whole years, a new plant develops only in the soil. All these three times the mycelium "feeds" the orchid until it has real leaves and stems.
IN folk medicine this flower is popular as a sedative for mental illness, epilepsy, insomnia. It is also used for headaches and as an anti-febrile remedy.
Variety of species of northern orchids
The largest orchid our taiga - large-flowered slipper.
Its flowers reach almost 10 cm in length. The large-flowered slipper occupies mixed forests and forest lawns. There was a lot of it in the valley of the Kama river and in the Volga region. There is a large-flowered slipper in the Far East and in Western Siberia... The flowers of this shoe are violet-pink or lilac, for which it is popularly called red zosulki. At the base of the petals, darker veins can be discerned.
On meadows sprouted with shrubs, in mixed and coniferous forests, one more type of Venus's shoe may be encountered - spotted slipper.
The “lip” of the spotted shoe looks speckled, since it is completely mottled with pink merged spots. He is shorter than other Venus shoes - up to 30 cm. The Yatabe shoe, found in the forests of the Far East, is also interesting.
Venus shoes have long been tamed by flower growers - they are bred by them in flower beds and in gardens. Real and large-flowered shoes are grown more often.
In the last century, the famous St. Petersburg florist ZL Regel successfully cultivated a beautiful Canadian shoe (C. spectabile). Large flowers its white, with a pink tint. One or two flowers grow on the stem. The Canadian slipper was planted in a shaded area of the garden, the land was chosen fertile, flavored with leaf humus. This slipper endures our winters easily. Propagate it by dividing the overgrown rhizomes.
Lady's slipper present looks like a flashlight in the forest. It then flashes brightly, falling under a ray of the sun, then goes out and completely disappears in the play of chiaroscuro.
By the way, the rhizomes of Venus shoes are located very close to the surface, and therefore, when collecting these rare flowers, you can easily destroy the entire plant by pulling it out by the root. This orchid at the moment it is recognized as rare and therefore protected in all countries of the world where it grows. In addition to the Russian Red Data Book, the northern orchid is included in the IUCN Red Data Book.
It is because of the unreasonable interference of people lady's slipper has become a rarity. It quickly disappeared from many of its original habitats under the heavy hand of a tourist, a mower and a lumberjack. Violation ecological situation due to human intervention has damaged all kinds of northern orchids, but on a lady's shoe - plant and without that rare, it had an especially detrimental effect. That is why in Lately all representatives of this small genus are taken under strict protection.
But, despite numerous nature conservation measures, the number of the species is decreasing everywhere. Only the most careful attitude to this plant can save it from complete disappearance. Undoubtedly, it is necessary to control the state of known populations and develop new ones. Hopefully it's beautiful plant under a strict security regime, it will not only be saved, but will also increase its numbers.
And then, I would like to believe, we will be able to observe it not only in greenhouses and gardens of amateurs, but also in living nature.
In this tutorial, we will look at an example of how to draw a flower with a pencil... Having searched the Internet for pictures of flowers drawn in pencil, we decided to take a lily as an example. The gardens grow about 30 different types and many varieties of these. We will draw from this picture: Let's start by drawing a circle in which it will be placed. There will be a stem underneath it. Stem in main leafy, simple or slightly branched at the top. In our example, there are only two leaves. With this, I think there should be no difficulties, so let's move on.
How to draw a flower with a pencil step by step
Next, start drawing each petal. Pay attention to their shape, and that these flowers usually have 6 petals. Move on to drawing the stamens. Here's how you should get it: 
Then we turn to the image of Lily in more detail. Let's add spots on the petals. 
Next stage. Erase the auxiliary lines that we made in the initial stage and outline the contours of the Lily. 
Further: 
Well, at the end: 
Try to go through this lesson yourself, you can even take another flower (for example). You still have questions, how beautiful to draw a flower? Leave your comments about this and show your work. We have another similar lesson about how. And also recommend the beautiful one! I also recommend trying your hand, you can draw.
The Venus slipper plant is one of the most beautiful wild flowers in Russia. Among the people, the flower has many names "Adam's head", "cuckoo's boots" and "Marusin's shoe", sometimes it is called the shoes of the Mother of God or simply cockerels.
Lady's slipper: a brief description
The Latin name Cupripedium calceolus means Cypride's slipper.
It is a perennial herb 15–25 centimeters high with a creeping rhizome. Refers to to the class monocotyledonous, orchid family... The lip inside with red dots, two-bladed in shape, resembling a wooden shoe, bright yellow, with a narrow mouth. Two lateral petals are linear-lacent, slightly twisted, up to 6 centimeters long. The lower and upper petals are large, the lower one is two-toothed (since two side petals have grown together). This plant of the orchid family looks spectacular when it begins to bloom - from mid-May to early June.
At the bottom of a large petal (shoe) there are juicy hairs. Flower trap for small insects. Sometimes these hairs secrete nectar, which, along with the hairs, is eaten by insects. Most love this nectar small bees attracted by the delicate vanilla scent of the plant. Having penetrated into the cavity of the shoe, insects can hardly leave it through the narrow outlet of the anther and, inevitably, are pollinators for the flower, the pollen of which they will leave on the stigmas of other shoes.
The fruit is a brown box.
Habitat and species protection
it rare plant leads the life of a "hermit" and in wildlife Russia is found infrequently, but practically throughout the country: Far East, Western and Eastern Siberia, European part of Russia, Crimea, Caucasus... It inhabits mainly shady glades of warm, dry deciduous and coniferous forests, between shrubs on lime-rich soils, without direct sunlight, and sometimes comes across on the outskirts of bogs. Some species are able to withstand quite severe cold.
Like all orchids in our country, the Lady's Slipper is on the verge of extinction and is protected by the state. The plant of rare beauty is listed in the Red Book of Russia. This is due to the massive collection of flowers by people. for sale or breeding on the household plots, deforestation and destruction of forests, construction of new highways. All this ultimately leads to a reduction in the species and threatens the complete disappearance of the population. If it were not for the "capriciousness" of the flower, the Lady's slipper would certainly have received widespread decorative distribution. Today, this flower can be found only on the territory of nature reserves, botanical gardens or in remote places, where no man has set foot with barbaric intentions.
Legends about the shoe of the goddess Venus
According to legend, the owner of this unusual shoe is considered Greek goddess beauty and love of Cypriot, she is Aphrodite or Venus.
The name of the flower comes from fairy tales and legends, and the flower, its unusual shape, resembling a silk female shoe, appeared on earth thanks to the sweet forgetfulness and absent-mindedness of the goddess Venus.
According to one of the legends, lovers Venus (goddess of love) and Adonis (god of beauty) hid in the crown of a tree during the rain, and the golden shoe slipped off the leg of the goddess straight onto the road along which the hunter passed. Delighted with the precious find, the man stretched out his hand to the shoe, but it instantly turned into a beautiful flower.
Another legend tells us how once the goddess of beauty and love Venus wandered into the Russian forests and walked through them for a long time, admired nature, and then sat down to rest and took off her golden shoes. And when leaving, just forgot them in the forest and they turned into flowers of extraordinary beauty. Seeing this miracle, the locals named the plant “Venus's shoes”.
Lady's slipper
Lady's slipper Russian orchid
According to the Wikipedia site: the genus Slipper or Cypripedium (Cypripédium) includes about 50 species, it grows mainly in North and South America, Asia and Europe.
In the nature of Russia, there are 5 types:
In our country, the forest orchid grows on moist soils of rather deep and darkened forests in the shade deciduous trees... The soil should be light and loose, neutral or slightly acidic, rich in calcium.
Reproduction in a flower is vegetative (by dividing the bush) and seed, and the stage of symbiosis of the seedling with special soil fungi and underground growth lasts three years.
The time of flowering comes only after ten, or even all seventeen years. It blooms for a little less than a month - from mid-May until early June. Ripening of seeds is completed two to three months after pollination.
Used in traditional medicine peoples of the North and Tibet as medicine with epilepsy, headache, insomnia, cardiovascular diseases, schizophrenia, fright.
- Orchid seeds germinate only with the help of special symbiont fungi that penetrate the tissues of the embryo.
- Prefers to settle in places where pine and birch grow at the same time.
- From the moment the seed germinates until the first flowering, 15-18 years can pass.
- The plant is saved from animals by a caustic poisonous juice.
- The flower is remarkable for its longevity - it lives from 50 to 100 years.
- Included in the Red Book of the USSR in 1984.
The lady's slipper is a beautiful herb, the most exotic of the orchid family. With a long stem and wide leaves, it is surprisingly unlike any common orchid species. In the photo, the lady's slipper has long petals, and an inflorescence in the form of a shoe in the middle, where it accumulates poisonous juice.
The genus slipper got its name from the shape of a lip, reminiscent of a woman's slipper. In most European languages, as well as in Latin, this genus is called the lady's shoe, Venus's shoe, ladies' shoe, etc. North America, Europe and Asia, from the forest-tundra to the tropics.
Plants with dense pubescent stem and large leaves... The stem is either very short, and then with a single pair of leaves, which seem to be near-ground, and a single-flowered peduncle, or rather tall, with large alternate leaves and usually with several, more often with 1-3, less often with 6-12 flowers.
The flowers are rather large, of a peculiar shape, b. including brightly colored, usually with vanilla aroma. Bracts are also large, leaf-shaped. Sepals are petal; upper ovoid or elliptical; 2 lateral ones often fuse into one bisected at the end, facing downward.
Slipper flowers, with their complex structure, are a typical example of trap flowers. Once inside the flower, pollinators - usually flying insects - can only come out in a certain way, ensuring pollination. The insect is attracted by the bright color of the flower. It sits on the smooth edge of the lip, slides over it and rolls into its cavity. After fruitless attempts to climb up the smooth, concave surface, the insect notices light coming from two imaginary holes in the side walls at the base of the lip. Moving to the source of light, the insect must crawl the stigma of the flower, on which the pollen brought by it will remain, and only then it will be able to notice the real exit. Before leaving the flower, it will rub against the anther and sticky pollen grains that are not combined in polynia will stick to its body. Having fallen on another flower, the insect first touches the low-inclined stigma and fertilizes the flower, and only then the anther will sprinkle it with a new portion of pollen.
How everything is thought out by Mother Nature!
