Falklands Conservation

Lady’s Slipper of Global Significance

Lady’s Slipper (Calceolaria fothergillii) is an attractive native flower familiar to many in the Falkland Islands. It flowers between November and February in heathland habitats, on coastal slopes and on sheltered cliffs.

The Lady’s Slipper (Calceolaria fothergillii)

Distribution throughout the Islands

New evidence has recently come to light that has led to a reassessment of this species' conservation importance. Researchers¹ who have been studying its only close relative (C. uniflora) on the South American mainland, point out that the Falklands plant has never been reliably recorded anywhere else in the world, something of which we had previously been unaware. In other words, Lady’s Slipper is member of the exclusive group of 13 plants that are now considered to be endemic to the Falkland Islands (see below).

Given that these endemic species grow wild only in the Falkland Islands their conservation here is a high priority. Lady’s Slipper is still widespread across the Islands but scarce, except in the absence of grazing pressure. Its primary habitat, coastal Diddle-dee (Empetrum rubrum) heath, is suffering from various pressures in many parts of the Falklands, including over-grazing, burning, and more recently ploughing to ‘improve’ the land for agriculture. Lady’s Slipper is now more common in places that are out of the reach of grazing animals, such as steep cliff sides. However, the situation is far from bleak and Lady’s Slipper can still be enjoyed in many places. Some of the best locations to see Lady’s Slipper en masse are on some of the smaller islands around the coast that are free from agricultural pressures, such as the Falklands Conservation reserve of Motley Island, the privately owned Hummock, Grand Jason and Steeple Jason Islands and the National Nature Reserve, Middle Island in King George Bay. New Island North reserve has one of the largest populations of this very attractive flowering plant.

Illustration from Flowering Plants of the Falkland Islands

The Falkland Islands 13 Endemic Plants Coastal Nassauvia (Nassauvia gaudichaudii) Snakeplant (Nassauvia serpens) Smooth Ragwort (Senecio vaginatus) Woolly Ragwort (Senecio littoralis) Antarctic Cudweed (Gamochaeta antarctica) False-plantain (Nastanthus falklandicus) Moore’s Plantain (Plantago moorei) Vanilla Daisy (Leucheria suaveolens) Lady’s Slipper (Calceolaria fothergillii) Hairy Daisy (Erigeron incertus) Silvery Buttercup (Hamadryas argentea) Rock-cress (Phlebolobium maclovianum) Clubmoss Cudweed (Chevreulia lycopodioides)

All of the above species are described and illustrated in the Flowering Plants of the Falkland Islands published by Falklands Conservation in 2000.

¹Mascó, M., Noy-Meir, I. & Sérsic, A.N. (2004) Geographic variation in flower color patterns within Calceolaria uniflora Lam. in Southern Patagonia. Plant Systematics and Evolution 244: 77-91.

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