Cypripedium irapeanum, known as Irapeao's cypripedium or pelican orchid, is a species of orchid found in Mexico and Central America in section irapeana.[1] It has a widespread distribution from the central Mexico states of Sinaloa and Durango south to Guatemala and Honduras.[2] [3] They are found in mixed pine and oak forests on well-drained limestone slopes and in areas with volcanic and clay soil which are rich in metals. They can be found in some areas in groups of hundreds.[4] They bloom from early June to late July.
The plant is tall, 1 to 1.5 m, and is pubescent with clasping elliptic to lanceolate cauline leaves in a single stem. The showy yellow flowers are 12 cm and open from bottom to top in a raceme of one to eight flowers.[5] The balloon-shaped lip has a fine net pattern and an open bowl with an enrolled margin. There are purple-brown spots toward the rear of the bowl. They propagate both by rhizomes and from many minute seeds that are propelled from a capsule which erupts from the inferior ovary.[6]
Some people have reported a contact dermatitis after handling these plants, and they are extremely difficult to cultivate as they rely on a symbiotic fungus for nutrients.