The Lady Slipper is the state flower of MN it is illegal to pick, uproot or unearth the flowers according to a state law enacted in 1925. If wildflowers are to be sold for purposes other than scientific and herbarium use, they must have been either A) growing naturally on the collectors property, then collected and cultivated by the collector on the collector’s property, or B) collected with written permission from the property of another, then transplanted to the private property of the collector and cultivated on the collector’s property. In either case, one or more permits and inspection by MDA are required prior to sale of the plants. Inspections must take place after the plant emerges from dormancy under cultivation and can be identified to species. As part of the permit application, MDA requires 1) written documentation that plants offered for sale grew naturally on the applicant’s property or that the applicant had permission to collect them from the property of another, 2) a record of the dates they were collected and transplanted, 3) the cultivation techniques used by the applicant, 4) the intended date of sale, and 5) the
approximate number of plants. Persons considering sale of these species collected from the wild should contact MDA staff listed below for further information.
