The flower Venus slipper got its unusual name thanks to the ancient legend of the goddess Venus. While walking on Earth, she accidentally forgot her shoes in the forest. After some time, they turned into beautiful flowers that stand out clearly against the background of other vegetation.
Description of flower venus slipper
Venus slipper (Cypripedium Calceolus in Latin) is a perennial herb. It has a round juicy stem with pubescence, reaching a height of half a meter, on which oblong leaves with a pointed end are located. The rhizome is short with many root branches. The stem has a bright green color, the leaves are green with a whitish-gray tint or marble pattern.
Venus slipper
For your information! Venus slipper belongs to the Orchid family, and therefore its flowers are unusually bright with a pleasant honey or vanilla aroma.
The sweet smell of this flower attracts insects pollinating it.
From each leaf rosette leaves a peduncle 30-40 cm long, at the end of which one or more flowers bloom. The petals are folded together with the sepals in a kind of bag, while several petals frame the bud and look like ribbons on a shoe.
The color of this flower is quite diverse: you can find bright yellow, pale pink, purple, red, white or greenish-brown specimens. On the petals, you can often see stripes or specks of a brighter shade.
Speckled venus slipper
Interesting facts about the Venus shoe
A lot of amazing legends are connected with the origin of this flower. In each region of growth (and there are several of them in the shoe-type orchid - Europe, Siberia, South Asia, North America), there is a version of the appearance of this plant on Earth and several names.
For example, you can find such names:
- ladies slippers;
- boots of the Virgin;
- cuckoo shoes;
- Adam's head.
Note! Now the slipper orchid is listed in the Red Book, as the number of plants is rapidly declining. This is due to the long period of growth, more than 10 years can pass from the seed entering the soil to the flowering of a new plant.
Many species of this beautiful flower can only be seen in nature reserves.
Some more interesting facts about this flower:
- in the seeds of the venereal shoe there are no additional substances, because of which they cannot germinate on their own. Their development begins only in symbiosis with fungal hyphae that penetrate the seed and activate the development process in it;
- within 3-4 years after the occurrence of symbiosis, the seed develops in the soil. Only in the fourth year the first sprouts appear;
- for animals and birds, plant juice can be toxic, but people use it for medicinal purposes.
For your information! The description of the biological genus Paphiopedilum, consisting of more than 50 species, was compiled by the famous botanist K. Linney in the 18th century.
The main types and varieties of plants
Not all of the venereal shoe types found and described centuries ago can be found today in nature. Many of them were lost, but others were successfully cultivated and are now grown at home.
Often found both in nature and in floriculture types of venus slipper:
Present
Venus slipper, called real, can be found in forests and swamps or in flower beds of folk doctors. It is believed that the juices of this plant can cure many mental illnesses, migraines. You can distinguish the view by the color of the flower - a bright yellow basket with brown outer petals.
Real Venus slipper
Paphiopedilum maudiae
One of the most popular hybrids among gardeners. The pedicel is low with one large flower and a neat rosette of dark green leaves. The color of Maudi’s shoe is juicy green with white, you can see specks inside the bud and light veins on the leaves.
Note! A similar hybrid with a bright speckled bud is Paphiopedilum American.
Paphiopedilum Maudi has an unusual white-green color
Paphiopedilum delenatii
This plant with elongated fleshy green leaves, peduncles up to 40 cm high, at the ends of which 1-3 large flowers bloom. The petals are painted in milk color, the shoe itself is in pale purple with a dark burgundy or purple lip. During flowering, Paphiopedilum Delenati orchid exudes a pleasant sweet aroma.
The shoe Delenati has a very delicate color
Large flowered
This type of venereal shoe is rightfully called this name, since its flowers can reach a diameter of up to 10 cm. Their color, depending on the variety, varies from pink to dark red, as well as white. On a short peduncle, only one flower blooms - a bright spot among the dark green striped leaves of the plant.
Large-flowered "shoes" look especially bright against the background of green forest vegetation
Paphiopedilum rothschildianum
Another large-flowered species of orchid slippers, the diameter of the flowers of which reaches 30-45 cm. Up to four inflorescences can bloom on one peduncle at a time. Their color varies from yellow-green to cream, on the upper petals there are bright purple stripes, the lower ones are covered with a yellow-red gradient.
An interesting type of flower is given by lateral striped petals of a pointed shape, spread out like wings of an exotic insect.
Note! The venus of Rothschild's slipper is an extremely rare plant that blooms for the first time only after 15 years. It is impossible to buy it for a home garden, only illegally for a lot of money.
Exotic Paphiopedilum Rothschild
Paphiopedilum class includes many more species, hybrids and varieties. Advanced technologies have allowed to bring out the most unpretentious in home care and often flowering. They can be found on the shelves of flower shops. In the wild, you can’t dig a slipper out of a venus, it’s illegal.
Paphiopedilum: home care
An orchid slipper, subject to proper planting and care, can be grown at home. If you plan to plant a plant in the ground, then this should be a shaded place. In the case of an apartment flower garden, it is worth choosing a fairly wide pot or flowerpot, since the root system of Paphiopedilums is horizontal.
Classical home care for any flowers usually includes frequent treatment of the plant from pests and disease prevention. But the venus slipper is practically not susceptible to diseases of ordinary indoor plants, and they need to be protected only from a spider mite (the absence of which is ensured by ordinary regular care of the flower).
Important conditions for growing a venus shoe:
- lighting. These flowers are shade-loving. Direct sunlight should be avoided even in winter. If the orchid is contained in the apartment, it can be set in the back of the room, away from the window, subject to uniform artificial lighting. For a street flower bed, a place under a sprawling tree or in the constant shade of a building is suitable;
- temperature and humidity. The universal temperature regime for growing venus slippers in the main period is 18-25 ° C, in winter - at least 10 ° C, in summer - no more than 33 ° C. In this case, the air should be of high humidity, that is, regular spraying of the flower is recommended, especially in the hot season;
- watering. The substrate (or soil) should never dry out, watering the plant should be especially plentiful in the summer. It is better to defend water so that it reaches room temperature. Moisture should not fall on the base of the stem, otherwise it will rot;
- soil and top dressing. An ideal option in the case of orchid flowers would be a substrate, in which moss, pieces of bark, charcoal were added. Large particles should be at the bottom of the tank or pit, a small substrate - above. Top dressing is carried out in all seasons except winter once every two weeks with conventional complex mineral fertilizer.
Important! Redness of the leaves of the venereal shoe often indicates that the lighting is excessive for it, and it should be dimmed.
Do not put a venus shoe on the window
It is worth remembering that in garden and room conditions, different types of orchids can feel different. There are more heat-loving flowers that will not bloom on the street, but there are more weather-resistant ones. For the garden, it is worth choosing those varieties of venus slippers that naturally grow in the planting region.
For wintering, it is important to cover the landing site of the veneer shoe with dry straw or pieces of polystyrene or other warming material. In this case, one should not allow the effects of strong wind on the plant.
Venus slipper goes well with other garden flowers
Flowering venus slipper
The flower, called the venus slipper, has a long flowering period: from several months to year round, depending on the variety. To ensure the development and blooming of flowers at home, it is necessary to observe several important nuances.
Paphiopedilum orchid blooms after a period of dormancy. First, a peduncle appears from the center of the leaf rosette, then either one flower (not fading within 2-4 months) or several flowers alternately (within 6-7 months) blooms on it. One pedicel is able to give flowers only once, so it is pruned at the end of the flowering period.
How to prune a peduncle
During dormancy, from October to November, the plant should be kept at a temperature of no more than 15 ° C. In this case, the substrate is simply sprayed with warm water, feeding is not performed. This mode is especially important for shoes with spotty leaves, since improper hibernation can cause the flower to not bloom. The dormant period ends when the peduncle appears.
Important! Some types of venereal shoes should provide night temperature drops of 10-15 ° C. Orchidaceae are excellently gaining strength for flowering precisely due to small fluctuations in air temperature, and inflorescences in this case may bloom earlier.
Paphiopedilum reproduction options
In nature, an orchid slipper propagates using seeds. They ripen in flower by the end of summer and are more like small pollen. Despite their huge number, only a part will reach the soil and settle in it, the rest will just scatter in the wind.
More than one year can pass from the moment it enters the soil to the start of germination. And therefore, in home and garden conditions, a venus shoe is propagated by dividing the bush.
Propagation of orchids using division of the rhizome
The principle of reproduction of a flower by division:
- the shoe should be seated after the formation of many outlets;
- each pot should have at least three leaf sockets;
- a good time for this procedure is the beginning of a period of rest;
- part of the separated rhizomes is planted shallow in the soil, sprinkled with earth;
- it is important that a certain number of daughter kidneys remain on the sedimented part;
- the planting process should be carried out as carefully as possible, since any damage to the rhizome and other parts of the plant can lead to the development of rot and its death;
- the planted part is prepared for flowering immediately after wintering, when it is able to grow a new peduncle.
Note! With the rhizome division of the venus shoe, all the species features of the new plant are preserved. It is recommended to completely transplant orchid species of flowers about once every two years. This is also done outside the flowering period.
Cultivating the type of venus shoe in indoor or garden conditions is not an easy task, but feasible for an experienced florist. The main task is to create conditions as close as possible to the natural habitat of the plant. And timely and competent care will help to achieve regular long-term flowering of the venus shoe.
