A comparison of the habits, life histories, and habitats of Clintonia borealis and Cypripedium acaule.

Abstract

1. Cypripedium acaule tends to grow on dry acidic substrates in mixed forests, pine woodlands, jack pine forests, and boreal forests as well as on elevated Sphagnum hummocks in bogs and along the margins of bogs. 2. Clintonia borealis tends to grow on moist neutral-acidic, sandy-loam soils in mixed forests, pine woodlands, jack pine forests, boreal forests, Thuja swamps, deciduous hardwood forests, and somewhat acidic peatlands. 3. Both Cypripedium acaule and Clintonia borealis tend to grow as associates in sandy somewhat acidic soils in mixed forests and pine woodlands on new and old dunes. 4. Cypripedium acaule may grow in higher frequencies in nutrient-poor areas with relatively few species, such as very acidic environments (i.e. bogs and jack pine plains), and in lower frequencies in areas with relatively dense vegetation (i.e. moister areas of woods with a moderate amount organic matter in the soils). 5. Clintonia borealis may grow in higher densities in moist areas with a moderate amount of organic matter in the soil and few to many species than in dry nutrient-poor areas with few species.