The lady's slippers belong to the Cypripedioideae [sip ri ped' e oy dee ee], a unique subfamily of the Orchidaceae. Orchids have their reproductive organs--an anther or two and a stigma--in a specialized structure, the column. Lady's slippers differ from the rest of the orchids in having two lateral anthers and two stigmas. Some taxonomists feel these differences should place the lady's slippers into a separate and older family in the order Orchidales. (Orchids, Care and Cultivation, Gérald Leroy-Terquem and Jean Parisot, Cassell Publishers, Ltd., 1993)

Lady's slippers have a distinctive petal, the labellum, shaped like a cup or the toe of a slipper. An insect searching for food falls into the toe of the slipper. The labellum offers no footing to the insect except at the back side. The insect has only one way out; it must climb up the back side of the labellum toward the center of the flower. At the center, there are two exits. The insect will encounter one of the two lateral anthers and have pollen attached to its back.

When the insect visits the next lady's slipper, it will again fall into the labellum. Crawling out, the insect will encounter a stigma where it leaves pollen from the first flower. When the insect passes through the exit, it will receive more pollen to carry to a third flower. This mechanism ensures that lady's slipper flowers are cross-pollinated. (Bill Fajen, pers. comm.)

There are four genera of lady's slippers--Cypripedium, native to temperate zones of the Northern Hemisphere, Phragmipedium and Selenipedium, native to South America, and Paphiopedilum, native to the Far East. These archaic orchids are terrestrial (growing in soil) or lithophytic (growing on rocks).

The genus Paphiopedilum was established by Ernst Hugo Heinrich Pfitzer in 1886. The name is apparently constructed from Paphia, one of the surnames of Aphrodite, and pedilon, a sandal; Aphrodite's sandal. But seventy-two years would pass before the name was accepted and brought into general use.

There are sixty species of Paphiopedilum ranging from the Himalayas of Northern India to the Philippine Islands. Collectors have produced hundreds of hybrids. The photographed specimen is a hybrid of two named hybrids--Paphiopedilum "Blood Clot" x Paph. "Macabre".

The American Orchid Society has a cultivation sheet for Paphiopedilum. To learn to grow these bizarre orchids, click on the link: http://www.theaos.org/orchids/culture/beginner/paphio.pdf

The AOS is wonderful organization and publishes a fascinating monthly magazine Orchids. To learn more about the AOS or to join, click on the link: http://www.theaos.org