Stats

Lifespan: Perennial
Size: Small
Diet: Photosynthetic
Biome: Temperate forest
Range: North America
Movement: Sessile
Breeding: Seeds
Defense: Toxins
Status: Common

About

A wild orchid of eastern North American forests whose inflated pink pouch traps bees inside, forcing them to brush against the pollen sacs as they squeeze out through a slit. It can take up to 16 years from seed to first bloom and depends on a specific soil fungus its entire life.

Life cycle

1.
seed
A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
2.
sprout
A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
3.
sapling
A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
4.
mature
Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

Learn more

Taxonomy

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Class: Liliopsida
Order: Asparagales
Family: Orchidaceae
Genus: Cypripedium
Species: Cypripedium acaule