#pink lady's slipper

[vandaliatraveler]

Walk with me: Visit to a high-elevation red spruce forest. The red spruce (Picea rubens) forest on top of Red Spruce Knob, the ninth highest peak in West Virginia, provides a bittersweet glimpse back in time to the primeval beauty and solitude of such places prior to the arrival of the logging companies in the mid-Nineteenth to early Twentieth centuries. The loggers stripped the mountains bare and set in motion the massive wildfires that burned away everything, including the soil itself, down to solid bedrock. Almost a century later, the forest is regenerating and in some places, such as Red Spruce Knob, has regained the richness and vitality of a healthy boreal ecosystem.

From top: a view of Red Spruce Knob, in the far distance, from the Highland Scenic Highway overlook; Canada mayflower (Maianthemum canadense), a ubiquitous understory component of the forest, along with mountain woodsorrel, yellow clintonia (a.k.a. blue-bead lily), hobblebush viburnum, Indian cucumber, green false hellebore, and various mosses and ferns; yellow clintonia (Clintonia borealis) in bloom; pink lady's slipper (Cypripedium acaule); green false hellebore (Veratrum viride) on eastern hay-scented fern (Dennstaedtia punctilobula); and mountain woodsorrel (Oxalis montana).

[sagehaubitze]

Last night I set out to watch the meteor shower, fucked off to the mountains etc etc you know the deal. Was cold enough to break out the field tunic for probably the last time until autumn; it was nice, I needed that comfort and security.

Anyway, no sidetracking, important thing: In the same patch of woods where I found a bucket list flower in September, the indian pipe/ghost flower, I walked up on another flower I have been searching for in the wild my entire life. One of our native orchids. I've wanted to find *any* of our native orchids in the wild, and I had never been lucky enough to. Until last night, and this pink lady's slipper (Cypripedium acaule) was just there, chillin. I lost my absolute mind. The population is considered globally secure, but they have very low pollination rates, flower infrequently, and take a very long time to mature. In Alabama they have a status of "S3", which means in the state there is an estimation of 20-100 occurrences of specimens in the wild. The range is measly, vouchered specimens only having been collected in Blount, Cherokee, Clay, Cleburne, DeKalb, Jackson, Lawrence, and Madison Counties. I was beyond ecstatic to see this one. It was not tucked very far away off the beaten path, I sincerely hope it doesn't get poached.

I also, quite literally, almost got my skull stomped in by a very angry deer while I was bedded down in some grass for the meteor shower. I had to run. From a deer. I think I would have rather encountered a bear, I was at Bear Den Point after all. But, that's neither here nor there compared to the orchid.

[thebotanicalarcade]

Ohio Spring Wildflower Field Guide

[geopsych]

Pink lady slippers, Cypripedium acaule. They’re even more interesting now that I have a few tropical slipper orchids!

I’ve taken so many pictures of native wildflowers in the last few weeks and posted very few. Just take my word for it: they’re still out there. 🌿🌸

[headspace-hotel]

The wonders! The wonders! The wonders!

[thewillowoaklady]

Pink lady slipper orchid

[mostlythemarsh]

Oh it's much too early for Lady Slippers... but soon enough. Here's a seed head from last year that's still standing.

[wildflowers-of-southern-ontario]

Showy Lady’s Slipper Cypripedium reginae Orchidaceae

Photographs taken on June 18, 2023, at Purdon Conservation Area, Lanark Highlands, Ontario, Canada.

[dailybotany]

Any chance you could tell me something about this plant?

Found it while hiking in Vermont (in the wooded area around a pond)

Yes! That is a pink ladies slipper (Cypripedium acaule), one of our showiest orchids. In New England, we are just passing the height of their flowering period and they will begin to die back (their two basal leaves stick around for most of the summer though!).

You may have heard about the importance of fungal mutualisms for orchid species, and pink ladies slippers are no exception. These relationships are so crucial to orchids because (unlike most seed plants) their seeds essentially consist of the embryo and the seed coat and are only viable for a short period of time--no store of energy for those babies! This means the parent plant has to put very little energy into their production, but it also means that these embryos are very vulnerable. Mycorrhizal fungi can penetrate the seed cost without damaging the embryo and can provide nutrients for it, essentially nursing the orchid. This is a mutualism because later, once the orchid is grown, it provides a similar service to the fungi.

Pink ladies slippers rely on the presence of fungi in the genus Rhizoctonia for this vital part of their life cycle.

You can read more about this wonderful and charismatic plant here!

[hankwag93]

Some pink lady’s slipper from a hike on 5/24/23.

[terracegallery]

Lady Slipper And Lace

A beautiful burgundy lady slipper orchid flower on white lace and light blue. A perfect addition to any home or office space. A botanical beauty! GET IT HERE!

[vandaliatraveler]

The photos above are from a trek to the summit of Bald Knob in Tucker County, West Virginia earlier today. Bald Knob Trail starts in Canaan Valley State Park and crosses into the Monongahela National Forest before returning to the state park. Many people avoid the steep ascent on foot and take a chair lift from the adjacent ski area instead. I manned up today and made the ascent by foot so I could beat the lazy tourists to the overlook. 

From top: the view from Bald Knob toward Weiss Knob and the Canaan Valley State Park ski area; wild geranium (Geranium maculatum), a clumping woodland perennial with gorgeous violet-purple foliage and elegant, sharply-lobed foliage; minniebush (Menziesia pilosa), an Appalachian endemic with distinctive, white-tipped leaves; painted trillium (Trillium undulatum), which has a fondness for shady spots in the strongly-acidic soils of old forests; pink lady’s slipper (Cypripedium acaule), another lover of shady nooks and strongly-acidic soils; and the mysterious depths of the boreal forest at the summit, where Canada mayflower (Maianthemum canadense) and yellow Clintonia (Clintonia borealis), also known as bluebead lily, form dense colonies in the rich humus.

[antimonyantigone]

Ovenbird and Pink Lady's-Slipper Charles Emile Heil

[thebotanicalarcade]

[geopsych]

I saw this close to where I heard my first scarlet tanager of the year this morning, more data for my theory that lady slippers don’t turn pink until they hear the song of a tanager. You can’t prove me wrong! ;-)

[danielbfriedman]

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Pink Lady’s Slipper, 6.19.2023 Plymouth, Massachusetts. Photo by Daniel B. Friedman.