Orchidaceae FAMILY

Calypso bulbosa

Edibility

2/5

Medicinal

2/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Botanical Description

Calypso bulbosa is a herbaceous perennial plant producing a solitary, basal leaf 3 - 6cm long from an underground corm. It produces an erect flowering stem 5 - 20cm tall, usually with only one flower, occasionally two[ 1050 Title Fire Effects Information System Publication Author Website http://www.feis-crs.org/feis/ Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An on-line information site with comprehensive information on over 1,100 species of plant. Mainly developed to supply information on the effects of fire on plants and animals, it also contains a wealth of other information on the plants ] The plant was traditionally harvested from the wild for local use as a food and a medicine. Although Calypso bulbosa has a very wide range, it is highly susceptible to even slight disturbances in its environment. Trampling and picking are the primary reasons for its rapid decline in some locations. Picking the flower inevitably kills the plant, because the delicate roots break at even the lightest pull on the stem. A decline in the frequency of the plant, due largely to a growing illegal international trade, caused the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources to list it as a species vulnerable to extinction on a global scale. Transplanting or cultivating the plant is rarely successful because of its need for specific soil fungi that are not usually present on transplant sites or in controlled environments[ 1050 Title Fire Effects Information System Publication Author Website http://www.feis-crs.org/feis/ Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An on-line information site with comprehensive information on over 1,100 species of plant. Mainly developed to supply information on the effects of fire on plants and animals, it also contains a wealth of other information on the plants ].

Habitat & Origin

Origintemperate

Native RangeCircumboreal through northern Europe and Asia. In N. America it extends southwards on the west coast to California and on the east to New York.

HabitatSoils 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[ 60 Title Vascular Plants of the Pacific Northwest. Publication Author Hitchcock. C. L. Publisher University of Washington Press Year 1955 ISBN - Description A standard flora for Western N. America with lots of information on habitat etc. Five large volumes, it is not for the casual reader. , 155 Title Flowers of the Southwest Mountains. Publication Author Arnberger. L. P. Publisher Southwestern Monuments Ass. Year 1968 ISBN - Description A lovely little pocket guide to wild plants in the southern Rockies of America. ].