Spotted lady's-slipper, speckled

Family Orchidaceae. Grows in coniferous, mixed and deciduous forests, sometimes in considerable numbers in forest glades, acting as a subdominant in the herb layer.

A small plant with a long creeping rhizome. Stem 15 - 30 cm tall. Leaves elliptic, acuminate, 6 - 12 cm long, densely hairy beneath along the veins and at the margins. Bracts leaflike, ovate-lanceolate. The outer upper perianth segment is elliptic-ovate, acute, 1.8 - 2.8 cm long, white or with violet-pink spots; the lower sepal, formed from two fused parts, is greenish, glandular-pubescent, 1.2 - 1.7 cm long. The lateral perianth segments are glabrous, as is the lip, white with large violet-pink spots. Ovary spindle-shaped, finely and densely glandular-pubescent. Flowers in May - June.

In cultivation it is rare but fairly hardy. Capable of growing and flowering on any soils. In rock gardens it sometimes spreads among stones, from under which its rhizomes are difficult to dig out. Does not form dense tufts. The ideal planting site is an area prepared as described above. Spotted lady's-slipper mainly propagates vegetatively by division of the rhizomes. Seed propagation is very poor.

Very ornamental and undemanding. Recommended for widespread cultivation.