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State Symbols

The official state symbols represent the cultural heritage and natural treasures of each state or the entire United States

New Hampshire Symbols

New Hampshire State Wild Flower

Pink Lady Slipper

(Cypripedium acaule)

Adopted in 1991

The pink lady's slipper, Cypripedium acaule, is hereby designated as the official state wildflower of New Hampshire.

In 1991, the Pink Lady's Slipper became the state's wildflower. The plant is native to New Hampshire and grows in the moist wooded areas of the state.

Pink lady's slipper is a large, showy wildflower belonging to the orchid family. The root of lady's slipper has traditionally been used as a remedy for nervousness, tooth pain, and muscle spasms. In the 1800's and 1900's it (and other species of the genus) were widely used as a substitute for the European plant valerian (also a sedative).

Because this plant has an extremely long life cycle, taking many years to go from seed to mature, seed-bearing plant, and because it will grow only in very specific circumstances, the harvest of wild lady's slipper root is often not sustainable. Cultivation is challenging, and the plant has not been widely grown for the medicinal herb market. Cypripedium, along with other orchid species, is listed in Appendix II of CITES, making it illegal to export any part of the plant without a permit. In 1988, the American Herbal Products Association issued a self-regulatory initiative for its members requiring them to refrain from trade in wild-harvested Cypripedium.

Today, there are only a few companies selling lady's slipper or products containing lady's slipper. The plant is still occasionally gathered from the wild for private use by individuals, and is sometimes picked as an ornamental. Perhaps the greatest threat to this plant, however, is habitat loss, since it grows only in a very selective habitat.

State Symbols

State symbols represent things that are special to a particular state.

symbol \ˈsim-bəl\
noun

Etymology:
in sense 1, from Late Latin symbolum, from Late Greek symbolon, from Greek, token, sign; in other senses from Latin symbolum token, sign, symbol, from Greek symbolon, literally, token of identity verified by comparing its other half, from symballein to throw together, compare, from syn- + ballein to throw — more at devil
Date: 15th century

1: Something that represents something else by association, resemblance, or convention, especially a material object used to represent something invisible.