Cypripedium formosanum Hayata is found in central Taiwan in damp forests at 2300-3000 m. It is closely related to Cypripedium japonicum and may have evolved from an isolated population of those, but differs in having wider tepals with a pure white base color and a fatter lip. It is among the earliest species in the genus. Height range: 30-45 cm. Photos 1-2 show a plant cultivated by Martin Bohnet and not yet planted at its final position, but the flowering in mid April was confirmed when completely planted out. The same plant one year after that (photo 3) has established itself and starts spreading with further distanced single shoots than many other Cypripediums, maybe as an adaptation to the wide leaf shape. The last two photos are from Nicholas Plummer. He decided to grow his in a pot so he could protect it from the frost. In the second of his two photos, taken three years later, the plant was in an 8 in diameter pot with a mix of composted wood chips, peat, and stalite, staying outside under shade cloth in summer and spending the winter on the floor of the greenhouse, near the cold draught from the imperfectly sealed swamp cooler.
