Calypso bulbosa in the wild

[KyushuCalanthe]

A year ago my wife and I made a trip to the Victoria, Canada area during the "Golden Week" holiday season in late April/early May. My raid array took a turd soon after returning and I wasn't able to produce any videos until I decided to get a new system going. So here it is, a video of the elusive little wood nymph, Calypso bulbosa, growing in the coniferous coastal forests just outside of Victoria city. It only took me a year to finally make this video!

Calypso bulbosa, the Fairy Slipper

 

[Linus_Cello]

What is the difference between var. Occidentalis and the other varieties?

 

[TrueNorth]

My son moved to Sooke in January. Yesterday he sent me a picture posted by someone in Sooke of a Calypso blooming in their backyard. I've always wanted to see one of these.

I think you were photobombed by a hummingbird just over 6 minutes in.

 

[KyushuCalanthe]

What is the difference between var. Occidentalis and the other varieties?

Ah, there's a question. Perhaps pictures speak better than words:

v. bulbosa

v. speciosa

v. americana

Mostly the differences are colors on the lip, though the extra long horn-like projections on v. speciosa are an interesting structural difference. I think the prettiest is v. americana with its lovely yellow patch of bristles. The other big difference is geographic distribution and to some extent habitat type. In North America v. americana is more boreal in distribution, living in interior parts of the continent with high snow fall and blisteringly cold winters. By contrast, v. occidentalis is confined to the Pacific Northwest, often in areas that have very little permanent snow cover in winter.

My son moved to Sooke in January. Yesterday he sent me a picture posted by someone in Sooke of a Calypso blooming in their backyard. I've always wanted to see one of these.

I think you were photobombed by a hummingbird just over 6 minutes in.

Indeed, I was. I didn't notice that until I started editing the clips. Amazing all the stuff that goes on around you. Lucky son of yours. Sooke is a nice place on planet Earth.

 

[TrueNorth]

Yes, I've had the same experience taking pictures of Cyps in a bog in Manitoba. Many of the pictures had camouflaged spiders or caterpillars on the flowers that I didn't notice until I projected the slides. I saw Cyp arietinum and Arethusa bulbosa on that trip.