I posted a picture of this unusual flower growing wild in the woods behind my house. There are quite a few of them.

http://anewoption.com/flower/Plant.jpg

Once someone told me what is was, I am reading that this plant is endangered due to loss of habitat. Does anyone know if that is true?

I live west of Atlanta.

Thanks,

Jeff

:hi::welcomesof:

Hi Jeff welcome to the slipper orchid forum! Glad you could join us! To answer your question, unfortunately and sadly yes. You are quite lucky to have them growing naturally near your home. Please do not disturb them and hopefully they do not get poached! Aren't they just beautiful?

actually, Cyp acaule is locally abundant and only in the past couple of years has made it to a few states' endangered species lists (Georgia, Illinois, New York, Tennessee).
it does have very strict cultural requirements which restricts its habitat.

Cypripedium acaule is listed as "Unusual" in Georgia, "Commercially Exploitable" in New York, and in TN it is listed as "Special Concern: Commercially Exploitable". Illinois is the only state where it is currently listed as strictly "endangered".

They are very common in some states, so I wouldn't expect to see them on the federal endangered species list anytime soon, hopefully never.

Very nice find. Welcome!

Beautiful plant!

Thanks for sharing!

Welcome to the forum...lovely slipper!

Thanks for the warm welcome and the information! I spoke to the DNR in Ga yesterday and I am the first to report them in my county! I am going out and attempt to count how many and report that back to them. I have owned the property for almost 10 years and I finally know what that unusual plant is!

The funny thing is I bought the acreage to preserve the land because my county was being overdeveloped. Now I know why!

Thanks again.

Jeff The Rookie plant guy

Nice to know those cyp plants are in good hands.

Report to us also hope you have a lot of slippers growing on your property!!!

Yes, please keep us updated! I'm glad it was you who bought the property and not someone who would have bulldozed it and destroyed everything.

What a great treasure to find on your property and I hope you find many more!

Welcome the Slipper Orchid Forum and thanks for joining!

That is great to hear!! I am glad that there are Cyps thriving in a protected place!
Welcome to the site! :welcome:

In between rain showers, I have counted over 200 plants in various stages of growth spread throughout the property! I will make a point next year to take pictures when they are all in bloom.

Jeff

That is good news.

That is wonderful! I hope you find more!:hyper:

Wow good count!!!great news!!!

I can't count how many now. Easily > 500.

Georgia DNR has asked for my address to plot my location on a map. Am I being paranoid thinking someone could find my address outside of DNR?? I value my privacy but if it could help........

Jeff

Oh wow that is great news! i would worry about folks coming to your property and digging up the cyps!!! is it illegal to pick cyps in your state?

Oh wow that is great news! i would worry about folks coming to your property and digging up the cyps!!! is it illegal to pick cyps in your state?

DNR said yes but they also said can't control what I do with my private property. I will leave the cyps alone!!

yeah best to leave them alone and hope nobody finds them!!!

Well, would your address be able to be found by the public when looking for cyp locations? If so, then I would not give it to them.

Post "Private Property" signs all over your property that might help.

Wow...thats awesome!

That is just wonderful news! Get a guard dog or two to keep unwanted people out.