As no bird is more beloved in Minnesota than the loon, so no wildflower is more captivating to Minnesotans than the Showy Lady’s Slipper, the state flower. The name reginae means ‘of the queen’—an apt description for such a queenly flower.

Where Cinderella dropped her shoe,
'Tis said in fairy tales of yore,
'Twas first the lady's slipper grew
And there its rosy blossom bore.
And ever since, in woodlands gray,
It marks where spring retreating flew,
Where speeding on her eager way,
She left behind her dainty shoe.

~Elaine and Dora Goodale (Apple Blossoms: Verses of Two Children, 1878)

Do you love the Minnesota state flower, the Showy Lady’s Slipper? Purchase cards and prints here!