# four queens of the forest



## cnycharles (May 29, 2011)

... or four native orchids and their royal retinue that I saw last week on a birthday road trip! two of the orchids are ladyslippers, so I put this collection in the cypripedium section

I managed to get last tuesday afternoon off from work, so I bolted before they could change their mind and met up with orchid friends Ken Hull, Bard Prentiss and .... in central ny to see isotria verticillata in flower! they all arrived a bit earlier as I had to drive quite a ways to get there (and stopped on the way to get some pizza and chicken riggies ... :drool: )

the first orchid I saw was a very nice double-flowered large whorled pogonia! I decided to make this rush trip because Bard mentioned in an email that there was a very nice double flower and since I had never seen one before felt this was a trip to make (i'll make different windows for each group of pictures since I probably won't be able to edit and upload them all at once)

when you see a group of whorled pogonia flowers or plants, you are actually looking at the surface of an orchid colony that likely has all connected tubers. individual plants and flowers are very likely all connected. so, one of the problems with trying to get up close to these flowers and take pictures is the likelihood that you are damaging the colony somehow. that said, this colony has a deer or two that sleep almost directly on top of some of the plants (plus a few plants are right in their trail)




































this plant had it's flower facing directly upwards. I believe that when a flower is pollinated, it's ovary swells and the flower then turns upwards. it made for an easier close-up look at the front of the flower





this picture is showing a close group of over a half-dozen flowering plants; they are very hard to see on the forest floor, how many can you see?










another flowering plant blended right in with the undergrowth






i'll have a lot more pictures in new 'reply' windows


----------



## Heather (May 29, 2011)

Very cool! 
How much sun do they get? Their leaves remind me of Indian Cucumber a little bit.


----------



## Shiva (May 29, 2011)

Very nice in their own way.


----------



## Erythrone (May 29, 2011)

Elegant queen of the forest!


----------



## SlipperFan (May 29, 2011)

Thanks for the tour!


----------



## paphreek (May 29, 2011)

I've never seen this beauty before. Thanks!


----------



## W. Beetus (May 29, 2011)

Amazing plants! Very nice.


----------



## Rick (May 30, 2011)

I've only seen pics of whorled pagonia. Very awesome Charles.

Some say they may come up (to bloom) as infrequently as every 7 years.

So this is an awesome find.


----------



## JeanLux (May 30, 2011)

without that supercool bloom, I would not have guessed these plants to be orchids!!!! Thanks !!! Jean


----------



## cnycharles (May 30, 2011)

Heather said:


> Very cool!
> How much sun do they get? Their leaves remind me of Indian Cucumber a little bit.



very perceptive! I took some pictures of the plant above to compare, as it's the plant most people will confuse the orchid with when they are out looking for isotria. they get bright, dappled light as they are usually underneath tall trees either on dry, acidic ground or oddly enough, in moss in a fenny wet area

rick, yes; they often don't come up very often though you can find scattered plants but none or very few flowering. so, we visit this spot every few years hoping that it will be flowering or to find at least one plant in flower. this year was a bonus as one person said that it had been many years since there were so many flowering plants there. I found another colony with a good number of flowering plants not far away, and there were many non-flowering seedlings all scattered around each colony

here is a plant of the indian cucumber root





whole plant that looks very similar to isotria verticillata except see the tiny flowers above





the leaves do look very similar to isotria





the stem of icr is very thin and wiry, though instead of blue, wide and hollow. icr has a white fuzz on the stem, while isotria v. has a white blush over the blue


----------



## Heather (May 30, 2011)

My first thought was, oh crap, I hope I didn't yank any of those up when taking school groups through our Indian Cucumber patch at the museum I used to work at - I was always digging them up for kids to see.


----------



## cnycharles (May 30, 2011)

well, if the plant you yanked up didn't have a wide/hollow stem, then you were in luck!


----------



## cnycharles (May 30, 2011)

*queen two*

between the two colonies of large whorled pogonia there were a few pink ladyslippers flowering (cypripedium acaule). pink ladyslippers can be very common in more acidic areas and in some spots up in the adirondack park there can be large numbers of them. but, they are beautiful when viewed up close and there's always the hope of getting the perfect closeup shot!





habitat shot of the first pink moccasin flower










interesting view because of the turned stem















some sun, and some amazing detail!

these plants were in heavy shade with a bit of sun here and there, so it made balancing the light and color a bit difficult. pink ladyslippers in full sun can be breathtaking when viewed up close. I heard from someone recently that the flowers have a nice fragrance so I tried to sniff one of these, but couldn't really detect anything (though my sinuses have been full, lately)


----------



## KyushuCalanthe (May 30, 2011)

Charles, neat to see this one in flower, particularly with double flowers! I've seen plants up and down the eastern seaboard, but only a couple times in flower. I searched out that colony in north Florida in vain for years, but only turned up the look-alike Medeola.

Thanks for these shots, they are a real treat!



Rick said:


> I've only seen pics of whorled pagonia. Very awesome Charles.
> 
> Some say they may come up (to bloom) as infrequently as every 7 years.
> 
> So this is an awesome find.



Rick, if you go to some of the ridge-line forests of Smoky Mountains NP there are places carpeted with them - if you go there the right year. I eagerly drove 9 hours to photograph a colony of many hundreds of plants one Memorial Day weekend only to find a few sterile specimens and one gone to seed :sob: Of course the huge colonies of C. parviflorum made up for that a bit 

If you're interested in trying your luck, PM me and I can give you more specific directions to a large colony up there.


----------



## Heather (May 30, 2011)

Those are lovely - you are making me miss the Northeast lately!


----------



## tocarmar (May 30, 2011)

Very Cool!! 
Does anyone know if there is a place to buy them (legally)? Anyone grow them with seed pods???


----------



## cnycharles (May 30, 2011)

I don't know if anyone has tried to grow them in cultivation starting in pots, since they (whorled pogonias) really are a spread-out colony. I don't know how they would handle being contained. that said, I don't remember seeing them for sale but that doesn't mean anything...
Tom, just letting you know that I haven't completely forgotten about your interest in native orchid images.. I actually was remembering while I was at work this morning. things will slow down, soon and I can begin to remember what real life is like (outside of the spray suit)


----------



## tocarmar (May 30, 2011)

cnycharles said:


> I don't know if anyone has tried to grow them in cultivation starting in pots, since they (whorled pogonias) really are a spread-out colony. I don't know how they would handle being contained. that said, I don't remember seeing them for sale but that doesn't mean anything...
> Tom, just letting you know that I haven't completely forgotten about your interest in native orchid images.. I actually was remembering while I was at work this morning. things will slow down, soon and I can begin to remember what real life is like (outside of the spray suit)



I thought you had forgotten about it!!! It has been hectec here too!! Just let me know what you want to do!!! (Thanks)


----------



## cnycharles (May 30, 2011)

*some of the queen's retinue*

after taking pictures of the pink ladyslippers I headed back up the rocky trail out to my car. I had seen some nice wildflowers on my way in and was determined to find some nice images on the way out





I saw many of these winged polygala in flower though many were old and falling apart





I don't remember the name of these millipedes (almond millipedes?), but remember being told and discovering many times that when disturbed they will roll up into a ball and give off an almond scent. it took many shots to get this one's legs in focus as it was moving quickly!





there were several colonies of these flowers along the path, in open spots where sun would shine in. they were very pretty in the dappled sunlight





this flower had a very curious and whimsical guest who was posing, just waiting for me to come back and take it's picture! 





their color was just sublime in the subdued sunlight










this may not seem like anything interesting, but much of the previous week and that morning the clouds were present and rain was falling, and by this time the sun was shining and it was so nice to see actual blue sky!





at the entrance of the trail and the road was a wonderful display of wildflowers. I could have given directions to someone to 'drive up the road until you see the columbine, then turn left!'





i had remembered these columbine to be more red and yellow, but this year they were a different color










an interesting combination of may apple and canada mayflower


----------



## Kevin (May 30, 2011)

Very nice!

Your 'musk mallow' is Wild Geranium - _Geranium maculatum_


----------



## NYEric (May 30, 2011)

I know where you were. Tell Ken I said "Hi!" and I hope to get up there again this year.


----------



## cnycharles (May 31, 2011)

*queen three*

after leaving the nature preserve with the whorled pogonia and pink ladyslippers I headed to a nature park/visitor's center where there is a nice clump of showy orchis or galearis spectabilis. this clump had been seen a while back and when people had returned to see if the plant would flower, they were shocked to see that deer had chewed the plant down! naturally, thoughts turned to venison kebabs, but since no hunting was allowed in this area (alas) calmer minds prevailed and came up with a wire cage to protect the orchids from deer predation. deer in upstate ny are very effective at mowing down anything edible in their path, and leaving lots of deer ticks behind. if you want something untouched, you either have to place dogs around it, fence it or spray nasty/stinky chemicals on it repeatedly to disgust them away. this often only works for the short term, until they discover that the stinky thing is tasty, then they cover their noses and...

so, the budding botanists barricaded the bright blooms and the byproducts were beautiful!






attractive path into the lime hollow nature preserve (just miles away from my first home!)





showy orchis clump with chicken wire cage staked down around the plants




















these flowers really are beautiful, but they are hard to get a nice picture of because the flowers are nodding, or face downwards slightly. I was surprised when I edited these pics at how 'dirty' they were from bugs and pest chewing. that said, this is the most sturdy clump of showy orchis I've seen in new york state! i've seen quite a few others in new york and vermont, but all much smaller plants





clump view from above





a red eft that was very concerned about being caught out in the open, and did not want to pose for a picture!





on the way back to my car, a very nice colony of colt's foot gone to seed. I wanted to take a few more pictures, but the road shoulder was literally only inches wide, and cars weren't overly concerned about pedestrian safety

again, the flowers were in heavy shade, and since they were guarded by quite a few nasty mosquitos, I was on the move quite a bit (picture quality isn't the best)


----------



## cnycharles (May 31, 2011)

*queen four*

the last orchid on this outing was the yellow ladyslipper at eames fen. usually there are some nice numbers of yellows there outside the small boardwalk area, but this year there weren't that many. I think the trees are shading out the orchids. the mosquitos were quite happy there, so I had to use flash and keep moving to be able to get some pics and stay alive 





yellow ladyslippers. I needed to use flash because of the heavy shade and a slight breeze










a few late white trillium


























thanks for going along on my birthday tour! hope you enjoyed it


----------



## JeanLux (Jun 1, 2011)

Great pics, thanks a lot Charles!!!! Jean


----------



## SlipperFan (Jun 1, 2011)

I love your wildflower tours!


----------



## tocarmar (Jun 1, 2011)

Very Nice Charles!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I need pics!!!!


----------



## cnycharles (Jun 1, 2011)

tocarmar said:


> Very Nice Charles!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
> 
> I need pics!!!!



 well there are four natives here, and you can use any of the pics i've posted here before


----------



## tocarmar (Jun 2, 2011)

O.K. Thank You!!!


----------



## Heather (Jun 2, 2011)

Wonderful tour, sounds like it was a good birthday, even though you may now need a blood transfusion!


----------



## NYEric (Jun 2, 2011)

Thanx for sharing. BTW I couldn't believe it! I saw Spedie/(or was it Riggie?) sauce in the supermarket a few days ago!!


----------



## biothanasis (Jun 2, 2011)

Very nice pictures and awsome flowers (especially the first orchid)... It was so nice to share them with us


----------



## Dido (Jun 2, 2011)

very nice pictures 
thanks for share. 

Galearis is one of my favorite non slippers


----------



## KyushuCalanthe (Jun 2, 2011)

Thanks for the continuing tour Charles. The showy orchis was one of my Holy Grail plants to find as a kid in southern NY, but I had to wait to see them in Maine and the southern mountains.

Did you come across any C. arietinum this year?


----------



## cnycharles (Jun 2, 2011)

NYEric said:


> Thanx for sharing. BTW I couldn't believe it! I saw Spedie/(or was it Riggie?) sauce in the supermarket a few days ago!!



I'll bet it was 'State Fair Spiedie Sauce', which is in most all stores I've been to in upstate ny. At the state fair in syracuse, there is the 'spiedie tent' and it is extremely popular, so lots of people outside of the area who have gone to the fair know about spiedies and sauce. You can marinate pork, chicken, beef and venison in it and they are all excellent. ... and i've had rave reviews for my venison spiedies marinated in this sauce! mmmmmmmm :drool:



KyushuCalanthe said:


> Thanks for the continuing tour Charles. The showy orchis was one of my Holy Grail plants to find as a kid in southern NY, but I had to wait to see them in Maine and the southern mountains.
> 
> Did you come across any C. arietinum this year?



it was difficult finding showy orchis here in upstate, though it is supposed to be 'around' pretty much anywhere. problem is, deer like it.  about the ram's head, I hadn't been able to go where it was, but a friend went yesterday and I was waiting on a report (to see if it was still in flower). the hot days may have finished them off quickly. i've only been to one spot where i've seen it in nys; nicer ones seen in vermont


----------



## KyushuCalanthe (Jun 5, 2011)

cnycharles said:


> about the ram's head, I hadn't been able to go where it was, but a friend went yesterday and I was waiting on a report (to see if it was still in flower). the hot days may have finished them off quickly. i've only been to one spot where i've seen it in nys; nicer ones seen in vermont



Charles, too bad about not seeing the ram's head. I've only since it in flower once and what a thrill to see just how tiny it is! Truly a dainty species in all respects. Some year you have to get up to the UP of Michigan or better yet Isle Royale where there are stands of thousands!

I looked for G. spectabilis in vain for years in southern NY, NJ, and CT and finally gave up. It wasn't until I got down south that I saw large colonies of them. I hope they are as plentiful nowadays down there.


----------



## cnycharles (Jun 5, 2011)

ram's head was past, ken said. we both got to see some plants of the lesser whorled pogonia a few days ago (no flowers), and yesterday I went to mid north ny and saw that the small population of putty root that we had been told about had flowered already, and the tops of the flower spikes had rotted or dried back. a few flowers on each stem that had seed pods so hopefully a few more plants will show up

we both went to nelson swamp today but didn't see either striped or western spotted coralroot; found some platanthera obtusata with one bud open each on bottom stems and some platanthera aquilonis with low buds and spent yellow ladyslippers. ken found some nice southern twayblades this morning


----------

