XVI International Botanical Congess

The Orchidaceae is one of the largest and most diversified plant families. Cypripedium acaule, lady slipper orchids, are widespread in eastern North America. C. acaule has previously been shown to have low heterozygosity due to reproductive failure. Five populations were examined in Maryland and Delaware to determine intra- and interpopulation genetic variation, using nondestructive sampling. Intersimple sequence repeat(ISSR), a PCR-based genetic fingerprint, was used to determine variation among the populations. There were no significant differences within the populations, and few population level variations.