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Each blue dot on this map represents a known location of Calypso bulbosa. These locations come from Calflora's many data sources. Calflora aggregates plant distributions from thousands of sources including government agencies, land managers, iNaturalist, CCH plant specimens, and you.

Calypso bulbosa var. occidentalis, also called Calypso orchid or fairy slipper, is circumboreal and widespread in suitable habitats in North America. This is the variety that occurs in California.

Calypso orchids do not provide nectar to pollinators, mainly bumblebees, which are said to learn not to revisit the flowers if expecting any nourishment. 

Photos by Stephanie Penn (above), Mary Ann Machi (left), and Marcus Tamura (right).

If Calypso flowers appear to rely on the initial attraction and deception of newly-emerged bumblebees for pollination, and individual bees learn to avoid these flowers, is that detrimental to sexual reproduction?

It appears that this negative effect may be offset by the large number of seeds produced in plants which are effectively pollinated. However, this is beyond the purview of Calflora, an independent nonprofit plant database, so please further inform us by replying to this email!

Quiz: Why is this genus called Calypso? Reply to this email with your response.