Slippers of the Bruce

Watercolour painting of a clump of yellow lady's slippers

Should you happen upon yellow lady’s slippers blooming in the dappled shade of some forest’s edge in North America, Central Europe, Siberia, North China, or Korea. . . . .you will be enchanted at once!  These particular beauties were photographed in Ontario’s Bruce Peninsula one June.

Their botanical name is cypripedium parvifluorum pubescens.   Contact with the short hairs on their stems and leaves can cause severe dermatitis for people with sensitive skin (similar to poison ivy), and you will find them included in lists of poisonous plants.   Cherokee Indians called them the yellow moccasin.  From their roots, they made a herbal drink to treat worms.Beholding the yellow lady’s slipper, one is awed by the Creator’s design in the fashion thereof:

. rolled edges on top rim of its waxy slipper
. ribbed leaves
. rooftop petal
. rakish moustache handlebars
. red dots splattered on its saucy tongue!