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Species library › Cypripedium › Cypripedium californicum
Orchids Well documented

Cypripedium californicum

A tall lady's slipper of seeps and stream margins in open conifer forest of northwestern California and southwestern Oregon, often on serpentine. It needs cold, wet winters with true dormancy, cool running moisture at the roots in spring, and a dry-air summer with the roots still damp.

Cypripedium californicum
Photo: M. S. del. ( = Matilda Smith, 1854-1926), J. N. Fitch lith. ( = John Nugent Fitch, 1840–1927) Description by Joseph Dalton Hooker (1817—1911), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
At home, aim for
Day Cool-growingTargets in Plantistry
Night Close to the dayTargets in Plantistry
Humidity Ordinary room humidityBand in Plantistry
Light Bright, filtered lightDLI and PPFD in Plantistry
Expects a seasonal restGrows in the ground

Where it grows wild

Grows in constantly wet, often serpentine seeps and along woodland streams in open coniferous forest, forming large clumps with stems over a metre tall.

Records span 1–2751 m with a median near 690 m; most colonies sit in the low to middle mountains of the Klamath–Siskiyou region.

CaliforniaOregon

🔒 Growing it like that

The wild conditions above, turned into targets for a shelf, a tent or a greenhouse. The full profile has:

✓ Day and night temperature targets, and the limits it tolerates
✓ Humidity band, and how to hold it
✓ Light as DLI and PPFD for a grow light
✓ Wet and dry seasons, and whether to rest it
✓ Substrate and airflow
✓ A step-by-step setup to grow it like the wild

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Profiles are drafts built from measured range and climate and from published sources; each section carries its own confidence in the app. Photo from Wikimedia Commons, used under its Public domain licence, unmodified.