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Elegant Slipper Orchid
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Elegant Slipper Orchid
ative Photo: Pankaj Kumar
Common name: Elegant Slipper Orchid
Botanical name: Cypripedium elegans    Family: Orchidaceae (Orchid family)
Synonyms: Coelogyne elegans

Elegant Slipper Orchid is a terrestrial orchid with a very hairy stem, growing up to 10 cm tall. The plant has two stalkless leaves, broadly ovate, 3-3.7 cm long. Flower are 2.5 cm across, with greenish sepals and petals, and a bag-like lip, typical of Cypripedium species. The lip is shorter than the sepals, brown with darker brown lines. Bracts are large, as long as the flower. Elegant Slipper Orchid is found in the Himalayas, from Nepal to Bhutan and S.E. Tibet, at altitudes of 3300-4200 m. Flowering: June.

Identification credit: Pankaj Kumar
Photographed in Valley of Flowers, Uttarakhand.
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