# Cypripedium acaule - watch with me



## xiphius (Apr 8, 2019)

Last year, shortly after moving into my new apartment, I was taking a walk in the woods behind the complex and stumbled across a nice little population of Cypripedium acaule. Conveniently only about a 10 minute hike out. Unfortunately, this was midsummer, so they were already bloomed out for the year. But I made note of them with the intention of watching them this year. I am guessing it is a fairly new (or recovering) population because the number of very mature plants is small (I only saw a dozen or so big ones). There were a TON of little guys though. This year, I am going to watch them carefully and try to catch a timelapse of them coming up and opening. Figured I would share those images here for others to enjoy as well. I may also try to give them some help with pollination. Last year was a rough one for them. I only saw 3 seed pods, of which, 2 were destroyed by the heavy rains/floods/falling trees. Also, there were many mounds of decomposing granite/mica chips that seemed to be havens for seedlings. Quite a few of these got completely washed out (presumably along with all of the seedlings they sheltered). So, without further ado!

It's a loose pine/hardwood area. The ground is mostly decomposing granite/mica covered by leaf litter (oak, hickory, and pine).






This past week they have just started to break through!





...still attached to last years surviving pod:





...closeup of new growth with last years leaves:





Well, at least they'll have plenty of iron 





Stay tuned. I am going to try for weekly updates (barring terrible weather). When the flowers start to open, I'll try and get out there every couple days.


----------



## abax (Apr 8, 2019)

Cherish those babies! We had a huge mature stand
of acaule on our property, but between the pine
bark beetle invasion that took out all the pines
shading the site and flooding they're all gone.
We tried to save a few, but they didn't make it.
I'll REALLY enjoy your photos.


----------



## Duck Slipper (Apr 11, 2019)

I will be watching...curiously, I am in West Kentucky waiting for some Cyps. to emerge. What state are you located in?


----------



## abax (Apr 11, 2019)

Southeastern KY. Hello neighbor.


----------



## Duck Slipper (Apr 11, 2019)

Abax,
Do you have any Cyps up yet?


----------



## xiphius (Apr 12, 2019)

I am in central Virginia. So, around about the same level as you guys. It has only been about a week or two so since they started popping up, and there are a bunch that haven't even started yet. So it is quite variable. Hope yours come up soon!


----------



## Phred (Apr 13, 2019)

Not in situation but here are a few of my Cypripedium acaule coming up this year


----------



## Phred (Apr 13, 2019)

Lol... in situ


----------



## abax (Apr 13, 2019)

Duck Slipper, I haven't seen any on our property
anywhere for quite a long time. Of course, I
haven't looked at the whole 128 acres either.


----------



## xiphius (Apr 17, 2019)

Phred said:


> Not in situation but here are a few of my Cypripedium acaule coming up this year



Nice! How long have you been growing them? As I understand they are tricky to keep going in the long term in pots?


----------



## xiphius (Apr 17, 2019)

They do grow up fast, don't they? 

It has only been about a week and they have grown quite a bit! In fact, several that hadn't even sprouted last time are already up with developing buds (really fast growth for only 7-8 days!). They are really starting to come up in earnest now. I had to be really careful where I was stepping and tried to walk around on downed trees as much as possible. Growth rates seem highly variable. I wonder if the ones that are in a blooming year grow faster? It seems like the ones with buds are much further along. However, it could also just be that some of the newer ones haven't developed buds yet, and these are simply overachievers.

This little guy wasn't even poking above the leaves last week, and now it has a bud coming along nicely!





Some of the slugabeds just starting to come up 





Patch nestled on the sides of a small gully





Another one in bud already





Patch with old seedpod


----------



## Berthold (Apr 17, 2019)

Phred said:


> Not in situation but here are a few of my Cypripedium acaule coming up this year


Did You vaccinate the pine bark in the pot with fungi of the from natural habitat


----------



## abax (Apr 17, 2019)

Great photos, xip! I hope the plants are on
your property so you can protect them.


----------



## Phred (Apr 18, 2019)

I have grown acaule in pots for several years. I grow in 50% Turface/50% coconut coir. The pine bark is a tiny layer on top to break the stream of water when I have to water and hold in moisture for a little longer. Last year I used a little soluble mycorrhizae for the first time. I used very little because it also contained some other nutrients.


----------



## NYEric (Apr 18, 2019)

Nice, thanks everyone for sharing.


----------



## Berthold (Apr 18, 2019)

Phred said:


> I have grown acaule in pots for several years. I grow in 50% Turface/50% coconut coir. The pine bark is a tiny layer on top to break the stream of water when I have to water and hold in moisture for a little longer. Last year I used a little soluble mycorrhizae for the first time. I used very little because it also contained some other nutrients.



Thanks, we in Germany can keep this species alive only at a pH-value below 4.5 (3.5 - 4.5), which kills most bacteria.
Do You know the pH-value of Your mixture?


----------



## xiphius (Apr 18, 2019)

Berthold said:


> Thanks, we in Germany can keep this species alive only at a pH-value below 4.5 (3.5 - 4.5), which kills most bacteria.



It does need pretty low pH. Probably why a lot of people can't maintain it in pots in the long run. I have heard that some growers water it with a dilute vinegar solution during the growing season in order to help keep the pot pH from getting too high.


----------



## xiphius (Apr 18, 2019)

abax said:


> I hope the plants are on
> your property so you can protect them.



Sadly, no. I am in an apartment, so I do not own the land. Come to think of it, I am not sure how much of the adjoining woods is actually owned by the apartment complex. They probably own some, but definitely not all, of it. It is not a huge tract - maybe 25 acres, 30 max. It's bordered on all 4 sides by roads and stuff, so it would be hard to get lost out there . I know a lot of people take their dogs for walks through, but mostly just to cut through the narrowest part to a trail that leads to a local park. I have never actually seen anyone else in the "deeper" portions of it. There is supposedly a bear that sometimes hangs out in there though. Last year we got several "bear warnings" from the complex. I never saw her, or her cub, on any of my walks though. I did stumble across a really old boundary marker for the county parks department one day while exploring. I don't know if some, or most, is still owned by the county or not. The colony should be more protected this year. The rains last year brought down a ton of trees and kind of formed a natural fence around a good portion of the population. Actually took me a bit to find them again because the landscape has changed so dramatically from last year.


----------



## Phred (Apr 18, 2019)

I use 3 oz apple cider vinegar to each gallon of rainwater. Plants are growing fast now that it’s getting warmer.


----------



## Berthold (Apr 18, 2019)

> I use 3 oz apple cider vinegar to each gallon of rainwater. Plants are growing fast now that it’s getting warmer.


I reduced pH of water down to about pH 3.0 by red wine vinegar. Basic substrate was peat.
The plant was not in a pot but in the garden. That was my problem because rain raised the pH value


----------



## Phred (Apr 18, 2019)

I had a bed outside when I lived on Cape Cod. I had 4” of gravel with a commercial weed barrier like the ones nurseries put their pots on on top of that. I had 4-5” of a 50% peat and 50% fine ground pine bark mix. I mulched every fall with 4” of pine needles. I never watered it and it only got rain. Plants were in full sun 1/2 day.


----------



## TrueNorth (Apr 19, 2019)

I have seen them growing here in Canada next to a sand quarry in soil that was 90% sand covered in pine needles.


----------



## BrucherT (Apr 19, 2019)

Phred said:


> I have grown acaule in pots for several years. I grow in 50% Turface/50% coconut coir. The pine bark is a tiny layer on top to break the stream of water when I have to water and hold in moisture for a little longer. Last year I used a little soluble mycorrhizae for the first time. I used very little because it also contained some other nutrients.



Love to see your pots, what size? Do you water with tap or rain? What grade is the coconut coir? I've only seen C. acaule rarely, and always in deep pine duff, so acidic, so I'm surprised by your turface mixture and would like to hear more. Thank you!


----------



## BrucherT (Apr 19, 2019)

Phred said:


> View attachment 15151
> View attachment 15152
> I had a bed outside when I lived on Cape Cod. I had 4” of gravel with a commercial weed barrier like the ones nurseries put their pots on on top of that. I had 4-5” of a 50% peat and 50% fine ground pine bark mix. I mulched every fall with 4” of pine needles. I never watered it and it only got rain. Plants were in full sun 1/2 day.



Absolutely stunning.


----------



## xiphius (Apr 22, 2019)

Phred said:


> I had a bed outside when I lived on Cape Cod.



That is a gorgeous bed of acaule! Well done. My grandfather had a house on Cape Cod and had a couple acaule that used to come up in his yard every year (unplanned). Guess they are pretty common out there. To him they were more of an annoyance because he had to try and avoid them with the lawnmower. I think he tried to move them once (unsuccessfully) and a few years later they ended up coming back up in about the same spot .


----------



## Phred (Apr 22, 2019)

BrucherT said:


> Love to see your pots, what size? Do you water with tap or rain? What grade is the coconut coir? I've only seen C. acaule rarely, and always in deep pine duff, so acidic, so I'm surprised by your turface mixture and would like to hear more. Thank you!



Sorry for the delay in responding. The acaule I’ve had the longest are in 7” clay bulb pans. I’ve had five in these pots for five years... no repotting. The first three years they stayed the same or got a little smaller the next year. Two summers ago I started to add 1/8 tsp Dyna-Gro orchid fertilizer (no urea) to a gallon of my rain water. The first year (2017) I fertilized this way once a month. The next year (2018) the plants looked bigger and greener so I fertilized every time I had to water. This year (2019) the plants are at least twice as big as they were last year and one looks like it’s going to have at least 5 leaves... very unusual. This year I started out fertilizing with the Dyna-Gro but am going to switch to a very small dose of ammonium sulfate. I haven’t checked the pH after mixing but will next time I check the fertigation water for my ‘in the house’ orchid collection.


----------



## xiphius (Apr 23, 2019)

Beautiful plants Phred! Clearly you have "the touch" when it comes to growing these.

Time for another update!

Things are coming along nicely in the colony. Even more plants coming up. Some of the early buds are already open flowers!

Same plant from the first picture of my previous update. Now fully open!






Same plant from the fourth picture of my previous update. Also fully open.





Some of the plants and flowers are incredibly tiny. Before seeing this, I wouldn't have even said that this plant was "flowering size." The plant itself is no bigger than a couple inches. The flower not much bigger than an inch or so. By far the smallest acaule I have ever seen.





Patch with old seedpod, as before:





Bud opening:





Coming up. Won't be long now (hopefully) until there is a sea of blooms! Gonna have my work cut out for me as far as pollination is concerned .


----------



## Phred (Apr 23, 2019)

That is a very nice colony Xiphius. Very nice flowers and some big plants also.


----------



## GuRu (Apr 28, 2019)

Phred said:


> ..........I had 4-5” of a 50% peat and 50% fine ground pine bark mix. I mulched every fall with 4” of pine needles. I never watered it and it only got rain. Plants were in full sun 1/2 day.



Your C. acaule look absolutely stunning and so is your culture. I don't grow C. acaule because the experts here in Europe say, its culture was very difficult, almost impossible because it needs acid soil. The sand it grows in in sitiu has a ph value of about 3.5 - 4.0 and they water from time to time with vinegar water to keep the ph value low. You dodn't water at all, if I read your posts correctly, and you didn't do anything else to keep the ph level low. Very impressive!


----------



## Phred (Apr 28, 2019)

Hello GuRu
When I grew in the ground I did not water. For the last few years I’ve been growing in pots which I do water with rainwater. I add 3 oz of apple cider vinegar to each gallon. The last two years and this spring I have been working on the best feeding program. Most recommendations are not to feed. They must be eating something in nature. In my experience in pots, even when watering with acidified water, they stay the same or get smaller from year to year. I fertilized 2017 and 2018 and my potted acaule are bigger this year than they ever have been. Not sure what I’m doing is the best option... maybe amino acids or a few foliar feedings with ammonium sulfate might be good. I’ll keep you informed with results as the season progresses


----------



## Phred (Apr 28, 2019)




----------



## Phred (Apr 28, 2019)

Growing fast now


----------



## Phred (Apr 29, 2019)

Welcome Cheoah
Couldn’t open your picture but look forward to seeing your plants as they develop


----------



## Cheoah (Apr 29, 2019)

Thanks Phred, requested mod delete above when photo would not render. Will try another time.


----------



## xiphius (Apr 30, 2019)

Nice! Lookin' good Phred! I also look forward to seeing yours Cheoah.


----------



## xiphius (May 1, 2019)

Yep... found a bigger clump in a gully further down the hill. Some of these plants look to be 3-4 growths and quite old, so this is probably near the center. The ones I found last year were probably seeded off from this colony. Blooming in earnest now!
















I've pollinated a couple dozen so far. Some of the earlier ones already have a pod swelling. There are at least two that are extremely extremely pale, almost white... but not quite. Still, I figure they may carry some of the recessive genes for the alba form, so I selfed those.

No way I will get to all of them before they start to fade though!


----------



## GuRu (May 2, 2019)

xiphius said:


> Yep... found a bigger clump in a gully further down the hill......



Xiphius, what a great sight. I'm deeply impressed.



xiphius said:


> I've pollinated a couple dozen so far. Some of the earlier ones already have a pod swelling. There are at least two that are extremely extremely pale, almost white... but not quite. Still, I figure they may carry some of the recessive genes for the alba form, so I selfed those.



And you are playing pollinator. What a nice activity in these surroundings. 



xiphius said:


> No way I will get to all of them before they start to fade though!



I presume, the rest will be done by insects


----------



## xiphius (May 2, 2019)

GuRu said:


> I presume, the rest will be done by insects



Some will, but most won't. Pollination rates for acaule are extremely low (something like 1-2%). I'm trying to even the odds a bit .


----------



## Phred (May 2, 2019)

On hand pollinating wild populations of acaule... I found this interesting article titled:

*Cost of reproduction in the pink lady's slipper orchid (Cypripedium acaule, Orchidaceae): an eleven-year experimental study of three populations.*

I had trouble coping the link but you can find it by searching the title in your browser. I’ve had similar experiences breading young Paphiopedilum or breeding every time a Paphiopedilum flowers. You can lose the plant... or at least greatly reduce its vigor. Same seems to apply to acaule.


----------



## xiphius (May 2, 2019)

Phred said:


> On hand pollinating wild populations of acaule... I found this interesting article titled:
> I had trouble coping the link but you can find it by searching the title in your browser. I’ve had similar experiences breading young Paphiopedilum or breeding every time a Paphiopedilum flowers. You can lose the plant... or at least greatly reduce its vigor. Same seems to apply to acaule.



Thanks for the link Phred! I actually already read that. Yes, I am being careful to avoid pollinating extremely young plants with very small flowers. Also, if a mature plant has more than one flower, I am only pollinating a single flower (to avoid undue stress from trying to develop more than one pod in the same year).


----------



## KyushuCalanthe (May 6, 2019)

Xiphius, lovely little colony. I remember seeing places just like this in the woods of southern NY as a kid. You can't help but feel like you're in special company when they are in bloom.

Phred, nice cultivation of this not so easy species. That said, I'd eat my hat if that multi-leafed guy is a true acaule. Me suspects there's a infiltrator in your midst - perhaps a different species like reginae, or perhaps even a hybrid. Where'd you get the seed/seedlings?


----------



## Phred (May 6, 2019)

The thought that this multi-leaf plant might not be acaule is an interesting though. There are photos of acaule on line with more than two leaves. How likely would another species survive several years being watered with 3oz. apple cider vinegar to a gallon?


----------



## fundulopanchax (May 7, 2019)

Beautiful colony! 

I have been following a colony in NW Connecticut since 2002 that is spread out over about 2 acres of the last remnant of virgin white pines in CT and one of the few in New England. The area was too remote for the king's mast cutters to get up to and managed to avoid the colonists burning all the large "mast trees" as was done in so much of NE at the time of the Revolutionary War. The colony currently is about 450 blooming plants (I count them at Memorial Day every year when they are all blooming), and count pods in mid-September. Such colonies are beautiful sites. As was noted above, pollination rates are generally well below 10% in "my" colony and around 3-5% most years. Twice there have been no pods in September. Curiously, one year it was more than 90% across the entire colony; must have been an explosion of young bumblebees that year unless someone had a lot of time on their hands and hand-pollenated hundreds of flowers. Often, for several years there will be very few new young plants, but every 6-10 years a good-sized crop appears. 

I have done artificial pollination experiments at one edge of the colony (that is where the darkest, richest wine-colored flowers are) and find pollination success at 100%. In that small area, the second year after my artificial pollination, there are hundreds of new plants. That area is now densely covered with blooming plants. I haven't done any artificial pollination for a number of years now and the density has slowly decreased but is still far above the main colony with many nice, mature plants. Interestingly, about 7 years ago a distant part of the colony began to show some of the very dark-colored flowers. Perhaps a high Fall wind blew some seed in that direction. The dark-colored flowers have since become steadily more common in that area.

I have tried pots without much long-term success. Our house is on a property that has 3 acres of pine and hemlock forest. It had a very few acaule when we moved in. I took the seed from an opened pod of the very colorfully flowered specimens that I follow and spread them around. Now I have quite a few dark wine-red flowered plants. A Cyp enthusiast in Germany received some seed from me quite a while back and 3 years later sent photos of nicely-flowering plants he had grown. I asked him how he did it and he said he had just spread the seed in a small patch of white pines on his property. I asked him what species the pines were and he wrote back the same species as ours in CT. I was surprised but he responded that after WWII many white pines were planted to replace the trees lost in the bombings. 

The above illustrates how fast acaule mature in the wild. In the colony I observe most of the new seedlings bloom the second year they are up and nearly all the third year.

Like in the images above, some of the old plants (old in the sense that I have seen them every year since 2002) have developed multiple leaves. Many older plants, like those in Xiphius' images of his lower section, have also developed multiple pairs of leaves from a single rhizome as they have matured.


----------



## xiphius (May 7, 2019)

KyushuCalanthe said:


> Phred, nice cultivation of this not so easy species. That said, I'd eat my hat if that multi-leafed guy is a true acaule. Me suspects there's a infiltrator in your midst - perhaps a different species like reginae, or perhaps even a hybrid. Where'd you get the seed/seedlings?



Interesting. I had thought that they could have more than two leaves, it just wasn't common. At any rate, keep us posted Phred, now I want to know what that plant actually is!


----------



## xiphius (May 7, 2019)

fundulopanchax said:


> Beautiful colony!
> 
> I have been following a colony in NW Connecticut since 2002 that is spread out over about 2 acres of the last remnant of virgin white pines in CT and one of the few in New England. The area was too remote for the king's mast cutters to get up to and managed to avoid the colonists burning all the large "mast trees" as was done in so much of NE at the time of the Revolutionary War. The colony currently is about 450 blooming plants (I count them at Memorial Day every year when they are all blooming), and count pods in mid-September. Such colonies are beautiful sites. As was noted above, pollination rates are generally well below 10% in "my" colony and around 3-5% most years. Twice there have been no pods in September. Curiously, one year it was more than 90% across the entire colony; must have been an explosion of young bumblebees that year unless someone had a lot of time on their hands and hand-pollenated hundreds of flowers. Often, for several years there will be very few new young plants, but every 6-10 years a good-sized crop appears.
> 
> ...



Nice! That sounds like a magnificent site. Those trees must be mighty impressive! I love stumbling across tiny swaths of old growth forest. Not much left nowadays.

Counting every year is quite a chore! I applaud your devotion. That said, 3-5% sounds pretty typical for natural pollination rates. I would imagine that the year it was more than 90% someone had a "hand" in that (pun intended ). I suppose it is not impossible that it happened naturally, but it would extremely extremely unlikely. I have also been a bit surprised by how easy they seem to be to pollinate. The flowers are extremely flexible so you don't even have to remove the pouch to easily reach the stigma. I just bend it to the side with a finger and then use a bent needle to daub some pollen on the stigma before gently adjusting the pouch back into place (that way the flowers are intact for others to enjoy too). There were a few that I was sure wouldn't work because it seemed like I was having trouble getting the pollen to stick to the stigma. But, so far, it looks like every single one I have tried to pollinate has taken (all have pods swelling) and on some of the earlier ones, the flowers are wilting and preparing to drop off.

Yeah, I think the key to long term culture in pots is being consistent with applications of vinegar. Too much work imho. I'll just enjoy them out in the wild. That said, my parents do have a nice stand of pines on their property which would probably be good for acaule, so I will likely take a pod and try to spread the love .


----------



## BrucherT (May 7, 2019)

Phred said:


> View attachment 15192
> View attachment 15193
> 
> 
> Sorry for the delay in responding. The acaule I’ve had the longest are in 7” clay bulb pans. I’ve had five in these pots for five years... no repotting. The first three years they stayed the same or got a little smaller the next year. Two summers ago I started to add 1/8 tsp Dyna-Gro orchid fertilizer (no urea) to a gallon of my rain water. The first year (2017) I fertilized this way once a month. The next year (2018) the plants looked bigger and greener so I fertilized every time I had to water. This year (2019) the plants are at least twice as big as they were last year and one looks like it’s going to have at least 5 leaves... very unusual. This year I started out fertilizing with the Dyna-Gro but am going to switch to a very small dose of ammonium sulfate. I haven’t checked the pH after mixing but will next time I check the fertigation water for my ‘in the house’ orchid collection.


Zero worries, your response is a treasure of info. I don’t grow these but I would give them a try...


----------



## Berthold (May 7, 2019)

fundulopanchax said:


> Beautiful colony!
> 
> A Cyp enthusiast in Germany received some seed from me quite a while back and 3 years later sent photos of nicely-flowering plants he had grown. I asked him how he did it and he said he had just spread the seed in a small patch of white pines on his property. I asked him what species the pines were and he wrote back the same species as ours in CT. I was surprised but he responded that after WWII many white pines were planted to replace the trees lost in the bombings.



I am skeptical that the seeds have really germinated in situ in Germany. Normally we germinate the seed sterile in vitro. I never heard about a germination success in the forest in Germany.


----------



## Phred (May 7, 2019)

I would love to see that many acaule in one spot... in bloom or otherwise. 
At this point I’m still convinced the multi leaf plant I have is acaule. I believe I’ve had it since the summer of 2015. It has always been two leaves until last year when it was three. This year it is 6 leaves all coming from the center with no stem... see photo. The last of my plants are up and this year I have a three leaf plant besides the 6 leaf one we’ve been talking about. I have 25 potted and all are much bigger since I started feeding a week solution with the vinegar and rainwater.


----------



## Berthold (May 7, 2019)

The multi leaf plants seem to be a genetic deviation, may be atavism.


----------



## xiphius (May 7, 2019)

I thought there might be an alba one nearby since so many of the plants are either extremely pale pink or blotchy white. I had just assumed that it wasn't blooming this year though. Ended up taking a walk around to other side of the hill... and found it! It is not part of the main group. Kinda just off by itself doing it's own thing. It is the only blooming size plant in that area. Other than that just some babies. I self pollinated it. 







This is one from the first batch I pollinated a couple weeks back. The flower has already shriveled and the pod is coming along nicely...


----------



## Phred (May 7, 2019)

That is beautiful... I’ve been looking for someone selling an alba form plant or a seed pod for several years. I thought one of mine that bloomed for the first time last year was an alba but at the last minute it turned color.


----------



## fundulopanchax (May 8, 2019)

xiphius said:


> Nice! That sounds like a magnificent site. Those trees must be mighty impressive! I love stumbling across tiny swaths of old growth forest. Not much left nowadays.
> 
> Counting every year is quite a chore! I applaud your devotion. That said, 3-5% sounds pretty typical for natural pollination rates. I would imagine that the year it was more than 90% someone had a "hand" in that (pun intended ). I suppose it is not impossible that it happened naturally, but it would extremely extremely unlikely. I have also been a bit surprised by how easy they seem to be to pollinate. The flowers are extremely flexible so you don't even have to remove the pouch to easily reach the stigma. I just bend it to the side with a finger and then use a bent needle to daub some pollen on the stigma before gently adjusting the pouch back into place (that way the flowers are intact for others to enjoy too). There were a few that I was sure wouldn't work because it seemed like I was having trouble getting the pollen to stick to the stigma. But, so far, it looks like every single one I have tried to pollinate has taken (all have pods swelling) and on some of the earlier ones, the flowers are wilting and preparing to drop off.
> 
> Yeah, I think the key to long term culture in pots is being consistent with applications of vinegar. Too much work imho. I'll just enjoy them out in the wild. That said, my parents do have a nice stand of pines on their property which would probably be good for acaule, so I will likely take a pod and try to spread the love .




It is actually a labor of love. I wouldn't miss it, it is very peaceful and I rarely run into other people. The area has a trail going through it but it is not used much, and a road through the park runs by a short stretch but there are not many cars. Fortunately one has to walk up to see the orchids (except in the parking lot for the trail, which has a number of acaule that grow in the gravel of the lot - the trail visitors always make sure they drive around the plants) whereas down below on the Farmington River there is a campground and that stretch of the river is a world class trout and salmon stream so the visitors stay down there. Since this forest is a remnant there are many species of plants that are quite rare in CT, and a few are the only known location in CT.


----------



## GuRu (May 8, 2019)

This C. acaule alba is a real eycatcher, very impressive.


----------



## NYEric (May 8, 2019)

Thanks for sharing. Our building has construction on the façade and we are not allowed in the garden! I don't know what's happening out there.


----------



## GuRu (May 8, 2019)

NYEric said:


> ......Our building has construction on the façade and we are not allowed in the garden! I don't know what's happening out there.



Eric, are you afraid, you're missing the flower season of C. acaule in your garden?


----------



## xiphius (May 9, 2019)

fundulopanchax said:


> It is actually a labor of love. I wouldn't miss it, it is very peaceful and I rarely run into other people. The area has a trail going through it but it is not used much, and a road through the park runs by a short stretch but there are not many cars. Fortunately one has to walk up to see the orchids (except in the parking lot for the trail, which has a number of acaule that grow in the gravel of the lot - the trail visitors always make sure they drive around the plants) whereas down below on the Farmington River there is a campground and that stretch of the river is a world class trout and salmon stream so the visitors stay down there. Since this forest is a remnant there are many species of plants that are quite rare in CT, and a few are the only known location in CT.



It is nice to hear that people seem to be respecting the site. It sounds like a lot of people know about it. The fact that they seem to be trying to keep it alive instead of trashing/exploiting it makes me feel a bit better about humanity. Of course, for every story like this, there are sadly 10 others of people mowing things down. May it prosper for many more years to come!



NYEric said:


> Thanks for sharing. Our building has construction on the façade and we are not allowed in the garden! I don't know what's happening out there.



Sad day! Hopefully the plants are doing well. Is it a shared garden? Or do you get your own space?



GuRu said:


> This C. acaule alba is a real eycatcher, very impressive.



Yes, I was super happy when I found it! I had almost given up looking. Yet another one I can tick off the bucket list. Now, if I could just find a parviflorum nearby  ...

There are a lot of nature trails that run through the wooded areas around my apartment and I have been slowly exploring them (in addition to the chunk of open woods behind me where the acaule are). I have found several populations of other native terrestrial orchids (like Galearis spectabilis), but no other slippers... yet... (area is probably not quite right for it though)


----------



## GuRu (May 10, 2019)

xiphius said:


> Now, if I could just find a parviflorum nearby  ...
> 
> There are a lot of nature trails that run through the wooded areas around my apartment and I have been slowly exploring them (in addition to the chunk of open woods behind me where the acaule are). I have found several populations of other native terrestrial orchids (like Galearis spectabilis), but no other slippers... yet... (area is probably not quite right for it though)



You are a lucky one if you live in an area where Cyps have their natural habitat.....But I think you won't find any other Cyp. species because the requirement for the soil, especially the ph value, are too diferent between C. acaule and the other ones.


----------



## xiphius (May 10, 2019)

GuRu said:


> You are a lucky one if you live in a area where Cyps have there natural habitat.....But I think you won't find any other Cyp. species because the requirement for the soil, especially the ph value, are too diferent between C. acaule and the other ones.



I know there are unlikely to be other cyp species in the immediate vicinity of acaule. But the acaule occupy only a small area. There are a lot of woods around, and the vegetation can vary considerably from acre-to-acre. For instance, in Shenandoah, I know where populations of both acaule and parviflorum exist - and some are fairly close to each other (so it is _possible_). Parviflorum also likes acid soil, just not as extreme as acaule. That said, I know it is a long shot. If I were to find others nearby, that would be a huge stroke of luck. I'm not exactly holding my breath, but a man can dream .


----------



## cnycharles (May 1, 2021)

GuRu said:


> You are a lucky one if you live in an area where Cyps have their natural habitat.....But I think you won't find any other Cyp. species because the requirement for the soil, especially the ph value, are too diferent between C. acaule and the other ones.


It’s possible in ny state since it has glacial geology and lots of water. You can have showy ladyslippers growing down in the black muck, while in the moss on hemlock roots see cyp acaule. Same for fens where parviflorum grows with raised areas around evergreens with acaule growing. Glaciers dumped sand, gravel and limestone, randomly so you can have very unusual collections of different plants. At chenango valley state park you have an acidic pond, sandy hill with southern plants, then on the other side another calcareous pond with clay/lime and differing plants on the other side


----------



## TropiCool (May 2, 2021)

xiphius said:


> I thought there might be an alba one nearby since so many of the plants are either extremely pale pink or blotchy white. I had just assumed that it wasn't blooming this year though. Ended up taking a walk around to other side of the hill... and found it! It is not part of the main group. Kinda just off by itself doing it's own thing. It is the only blooming size plant in that area. Other than that just some babies. I self pollinated it.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


----------

