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LADY'S SLIPPERS
Lady's slippers are a genus, Cypripedium, of flowers belonging to the orchid family, Orchidaceae. The approximately 50 species are found throughout the Northern Hemisphere. Flowers are often large and showy and are characterized by the formation of the lower petal into an elongated pouchlike lip said to resemble a slipper or a moccasin. The leaves are broad and pleated and surround the stem at their bases. The stem of the showy lady's slipper, C. reginae, is covered with hairs containing a fatty acid that causes blistering similar to that caused by poison ivy.
