Cypripedium formosanum and Cypripedium japonicum: two sister slipper orchids from Asia

Please visit us at: Also see the companion article at: This short video is a visual tour of two closely related Cypripediums from east Asia - C. formosanum from Taiwan and C. japonicum from China, Korea, and Japan. The video clips are from the last two seasons. I’ve had much more success longterm with C. formosanum, which is a very tolerant species to grow. In 2006 I started with a two growthed, unflowering plant and this spring (2014) the same plant was up to 17 growths and 15 flowers. Not bad. C. japonicum has been another story. In 2009 there were around 15 growths with 7 flowers, and the next spring there were 24 growths and about the same number of flowers. They have gone into a steady decline since, with this year being the worst - only 7 growths and 2 flowers. No doubt which species is easier to grow and bloom!