Western Fairy Slipper Orchid Calypso bulbosa

Western Fairy Slipper Orchid
Calypso bulbosa (L.) Oakes var. occidentalis (Holz.) Boivin

Collected apparently along a branch of Fish Creek but prior to Hungry Creek while on the Lolo Trail in Idaho Co., Idaho, on 16 Jun 1806. (Source)

Western fairy slipper orchid is a perennial; scapiform; mostly 5 to 20 cm tall. The flowers have sepals and 2 petals alike, magenta with 3 darker veins; lower lip pendent, about 10 mm wide, usually whitish and spotted, streaked inside with brownish-purple, with leaves produced at the top of the corm in the fall and persistent through winter, withering in summer; mostly 3-6 cm. It is in leaf from October to July, in flower from May to June.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. The plant prefers acid and neutral soils. It can grow in full shade (deep woodland) or semi-shade (light woodland). It requires moist or wet soil. It is found in soils rich with decaying leaves and wood, in moist pine or spruce woods and by cool shady streams from sea level to the mid-montane zone of Western North America.

Food Uses
Bulb, which is rather small, is eaten raw or cooked.. The corms have a rich, butter-like quality. They were usually boiled by the North American Indians before being eaten, though young maidens would eat them raw as they were believed to increase the size of the bust.

Food Uses Bulb, which is rather small, is eaten raw or cooked.. The corms have a rich, butter-like quality. They were usually boiled by the North American Indians before being eaten, though young maidens would eat them raw as they were believed to increase the size of the bust.

Medicinal Uses The bulbs have been chewed or the flowers sucked in the treatment of mild epilepsy.

Food Uses
Bulb, which is rather small, is eaten raw or cooked.. The corms have a rich, butter-like quality. They were usually boiled by the North American Indians before being eaten, though young maidens would eat them raw as they were believed to increase the size of the bust.

Medicinal Uses
The bulbs have been chewed or the flowers sucked in the treatment of mild epilepsy.