Lady’s Slipper
Parts Usually Used
The root
Description of Plant(s) and Culture
Cypripedium pubescens: Lady’s slipper is a perennial plant; the fleshy rootstock produces several round, glandular-hairy, leafy stems with alternate, sessile, sheathing, lanceolate leaves which are marked with several nerves. The characteristic flowers, with the lower lip forming an inflated sac suggesting the shape of a moccasin, are golden-yellow and lined with purple. Flowering time is from May to July.
Cypripedium acaule: Pink lady’s slipper is usually pink, rarely white in some individual plants or populations. It is a perennial, 6-15 inches tall with 2 leaves that are basal. Flowers are strongly veined pouches with deep furrows. Blooms from May to June. Cypripedium calceolus: Large yellow lady’s slipper is variable. Mostly it is a hairy perennial, 8-36 inches high. The leaves are broadly lance-shaped; they alternate on the stem.
The flowers are yellow, often purple-streaked; blooming May to July.
Where Found
Cypripedium pubescens: Native to the woods and meadows of North America, from Canada southward to North Dakota, Nebraska and Georgia. Cypripedium acaule: Found in acid woods from Newfoundland to Georgia; Alabama, Tennessee, to Minnesota. Too rare to harvest. Cypripedium calceolus: Found in rich woods, bogs; from Newfoundland to Georgia; Missouri, Kansas, to Minnesota. Too rare to harvest.
Medicinal Properties
Cypripedium pubescens: Antispasmodic, diaphoretic, nervine, tonic (no narcotics) Cypripedium acaule: Sedative, anti-depressive, nervine (no narcotics) Cypripedium calceolus: Sedative, anti-depressive, nervine (no narcotics)
Biochemical Information
Cypripedium pubescens: Volatile oil, volatile acid, tannic and gallic acids, resins, inorganic salts
Legends, Myths and Stories
This attractive orchid is found in our native woodlands. There are some 50 species that comprise the genus cypripedium, found in Europe, Asia, and North America and as far south as the tropics. There are 11 species found in North America. All species are equally remedial. The roots are believed to have properties very similar to valerian, but with less strength and for this reason sometimes preferred.
Like valerian it has no baneful narcotic effects. As with valerian, the nervine power of lady’s slipper root is increased by combination with other herbs. Lady’s slipper is also known as nerve root. The medicinal property of the plant was long known by the Native Americans and was a favorite among the empirics of early New England. Cypripedium pubescens: Lady’s slipper (C. pubescens) is also called bleeding heart, but the real bleeding heart is named Dicentra spectabilis.
Cypripedium acaule: Active compounds are not water soluble. The pink lady’s slipper was considered a substitute for the more commonly used yellow lady’s slipper. Orchids often have swollen, ball-shaped tubers, suggesting testicles; these roots are widely regarded as aphrodisiacs. Cypripedium calceolus: A related species: C. calceolus var. parvilflora is a smaller plant (to 8 inches high) with a more northerly range.
The petals are usually more twisted and burgundy-purple to light brown. It is only slightly hairy compared to its larger relative. Uses are the same as the larger plant.
Uses
Historical herbalists prepared a tea from the rootstock of Cypripedium pubescens as a tranquilizer, recommending it for nervous headaches, general nervousness, low fevers, stomach disorders, neuralgia, insomnia, cramps, and muscle spasms. In nineteenth-century America, both Cypripedium acaule and Cypripedium calceolus were widely used as sedatives for nervous headaches, insomnia, nervous irritability, and menstrual irregularities associated with premenstrual syndrome.
Herbal traditions similarly employed the roots of these species as general nerve sedatives.
Warning
Harvesting any of the lady’s slipper plants, which are rare orchids, should be strongly discouraged. As an endangered species it should be used with discretion. Cypripedium pubescens: Taken in large doses, the rootstock may cause hallucinations. The fresh plant can cause severe dermatitis after contact. Cypripedium acaule: May cause dermatitis. Cypripedium calceolus: All lady’s slipper plants may cause dermatitis.
Bibliography
American Folk Medicine , by Clarence Meyer, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, 1973 The Complete Medicinal Herbal , by Penelope Ody, Dorling Kindersley, Inc, 232 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, First American Edition, copyright 1993 Eastern/Central Medicinal Plants , by Steven Foster and James A. , Houghton Mifflin Company, 215 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10000 The Herbalist Almanac , by Clarence Meyer, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, copyright 1988, fifth printing, 1994 The Herb Book , by John Lust, Bantam Books, 666 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY.
copyright 1974. , 180 Varick Street, New York, NY 10014, first printed by the United States Government Printing Office, Washington, in 1928, this Dover edition 1974 Indian Herbalogy of North America , by Alma R. , Horticultural Hall, 300 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, 1973 The Magic of Herbs in Daily Living , by Richard Lucas, Parker Publishing Co. (1988). , Lotus Press, PO Box 325, Twin Lakes.
, Copyright 1988, published 1992 The Yoga of Herbs: An Ayurvedic Guide to Herbal Medicine , by Dr. David Frawley & Dr. Vasant Lad, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin, Second edition, 1988. , 15 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10023