Yellow Lady's Slipper Orchids

 

Every spring I make a pilgrimage into the New Jersey Pine Barrens to see pink lady's slipper orchids. It took a walk in the hardwood forest around New Hope, Pennsylvania, to find yellow ones. Click to enlage.

These are the first wild yellow lady's slippers I've ever seen. They are not just a yellow version of pink lady's slippers; they are a different species. 

Aside from the color difference, they grow in different settings. The pink ones prefer dry, acidic habitats like pine forests. Yellow lady's slippers are found in richer, moist hardwood forest understories. Note the long spirally twisted lateral petals. And the puffy pouch. Folklore says that squirrels wear lady slipper orchids for shoes. The bunch I found had exactly four blossoms -- a perfect set. 

Pink Lady's Slipper Orchid Season

Mid-May is prime season for pink lady's slipper orchids in the New Jersey Pine Barrens. I went hunting for them last week.

They were blooming right on schedule. 

For a flower so brightly colored, they are surprisingly difficult to see and must be stalked. Click to enlarge.

Here's a nice one, showing off its twisting sepals and puffy pouch. 

I also saw this adorable eastern chipmunk.

The New Jersey Pine Barrens -- dark pools, interesting plants, cute mammals, and a legendary resident Devil. What's not to like?

Pink Lady's Slipper Orchids

 

My search for wild pink lady's slipper orchids in the New Jersey Pine Barrens has paid off.

Behold! Click to enlarge.

Pink lady's slippers are also called moccasin flowers, American valerian, and squirrel shoes.

Like many orchids, the pink lady's slipper has a mutually beneficial relationship with a fungus. The fungus provides nutrients to the plant's seeds and helps them germinate. When the plant becomes photosynthetic, it provides nutrients to the fungus. Fair deal.

Bees pollinate the flowers, but receive no reward. They are attracted to the color and the sweet aroma of the flower. They expect nectar. But when a bee enters the flower pouch through the slit in the front, not only is there no nectar -- it can't back out. To reach an exit, it has to squeeze past the flower's female reproductive structure, the stigma. If the bee has been inside other blossoms, pollen on its body is deposited on the stigma, pollinating it. The bee also has to squeeze past a pollen mass, where it receives a new dusting of pollen to carry to the next flower. Tricky!

According to the U.S. Forest Service, a pink lady's slipper orchid plant can live for 20 years or more. They are unlikely to survive transplanting.

Pink lady's slipper are blooming now through mid-June in the New Jersey Pine Barrens. Get out there and find them. 

Still Looking for Pink Lady's Slippers

 

I spent another day in the New Jersey Pine Barrens, looking for wild pink lady's slipper orchids. According to the New Jersey Pinelands Commission's orchid blooming schedule, the flowers can be found from early May to mid-June. I was on the job on May 1.

I love when clouds reflect in the ponds like this. 

There were lots of pretty things to see, like these red maple seeds. Click to enlarge. 

I can report that purple pitcher plants are growing new insect-trapping pitchers.

And sundew plants are pushing up through the mud. Note the shiny drops of sticky "dew," ready to trap hapless insects. I can attest that the insects are out. But what about the pink lady's slipper orchids? The thing I went there to find?

Behold! I found several. But... they all were all newly sprouted like the one above, all with their slippers wrapped in green. Not pink lady's slippers -- green ones!

So, I did not quite find what I was looking for. I think one more trip to the pines will do it.

First Pink Lady's Slipper

 

Here's is the first pink lady's slipper orchid I have seen this year. I was flower hunting in the New Jersey pine barrens on May 9th and there it was. I only saw this one in flower but noted several sets of leaves. Just letting you know -- there are wild orchids blooming out there right now. Click to enlarge.

Pink lady's slipper orchids grow in association with a fungus that enables germination and provides nutrients to the plant. Once the plant is established it returns the favor by providing nutrients to the fungus. Individual plants can live for 20 years and longer in the wild.  Once you find some, you can visit the same spot every spring to see them.

A nice bunch from a previous spring. They are pollinated by bees that are attracted to the scent of the flowers. The flower's big pouch has a slit in the front that allows a bee to enter. Once inside, plant hairs direct the bee to an upper exit that requires squeezing past a pollen mass. Well played, little orchids!

Wild Orchids

 

Pink lady's slipper orchids, Cypripedium acaule, bloom in the New Jersey pine barrens from early May to mid-June. Right now! Here are some I found this week. Kind of pretty and creepy looking at the same time, right? Click to enlarge.

The lady's slipper flower smells good to bees and the big pouch has a slit in the front that allows a bee to enter. Once inside, hairs direct the bee to an upper exit that requires squeezing past a pollen mass. Tricky!

They grow in association with a fungus that enables germination and provides nutrients to the plant. After the plant is established it provides nutrients to the fungus, in turn.

Joseph Pullman Porter wrote a poem called Wild Orchids that begins: 

Under the pines, near the murmuring brook,
I know the wild orchids grow, 
Fair and pure in their shady nook... 

Exactly describing the spot where I found this orchid. Brook, shady nook, and all.

Pink Lady's Slippers

Pink lady's slipper orchids are blooming in south Jersey right now. I saw this one in open woods in the pine barrens last Tuesday. Click to enlarge.

Lady slippers bloom locally from early May to mid-June.

To celebrate their return, a poem by Wendell Berry, from Given Poems, Sabbaths II:  

 

"I dream of a quiet man

who explains nothing and defends 

nothing, but only knows 

where the rarest wildflowers 

are blooming, and who goes, 

and finds that he is smiling 

not of his own will."

Pink Lady's Slippers are Back

Mid-May is time to go hunting for lady's slipper orchids in the New Jersey pine barrens (with a face mask). Did it. Found them. Here they are. Click to enlarge.

 Joseph Pullman Porter wrote a poem called Wild Orchids that begins: 

Under the pines, near the murmuring brook,
I know the wild orchids grow, 
Fair and pure in their shady nook... 

Exactly describing the spot where I found this orchid. Brook, shady nook, and all.

Beautiful but a little bit creepy, right? These are the first sightings of my 2020 orchid season. I will be on the lookout for more and post them when I find them.

More Wild Orchids

Pink lady's slipper orchids, Cypripedium acaule, bloom in the New Jersey Pine Barrens from early May to mid-June. That's now! Here are a few I saw on May 18th.                    Click to enlarge.

They are also called moccasin flowers.

They grow in association with a fungus that enables germination and provides nutrients to the plant. Once the plant is established it returns the favor by providing nutrients to the fungus.

Individual plants can live for 20 years and longer in the wild.  Once you find some, you can visit the same spot every spring to see them.

The lady's slipper flower smells good to bees and the big pouch has a slit in the front that allows a bee to enter. Once inside, hairs direct the bee to an upper exit that requires squeezing past a pollen mass. Tricky!