Back to DuPont State Recreational Forest for Lady’s-slipper orchids — 2015-05-14

Recently, I heard from a Flickr friend who lives in Georgia, telling me that she would be combing the Blue Ridge Parkway for wildflower photography opportunities on Wednesday, and that she would be interested in joining me on my annual trip to DuPont State Recreational Forest toward the end of her adventure. That worked out just fine, because we would both be in the same area, and I would have the opportunity to actually meet her for the first time.

This time of year brings the peak bloom for both Cypripedium parviflorum var. parviflorum or Small Yellow Lady’s-slipper orchid as well as Cypripedium parviflorum var. pubescens or Large Yellow Lady’s-slipper orchid. Not only those two, but also Cypripedium acaule or Pink Lady’s-slipper orchid at some locations. Since these species generally prefer quite different growing conditions, one would think that they would not be found in close proximity, but that is not the case at DuPont State Recreational Forest. In a couple of places, they can be found growing within 12 feet (4 meters) of one another.

Small Yellow Lady’s-slipper orchid

Large Yellow Lady’s-slipper orchid

Pink Lady’s-slipper orchid

We met in the parking lot of the Fawn Lake area, spent some time getting acquainted, and then gathered our gear and headed off toward what I hoped would be a successful hike. Our first stop brought us to a spot where there were four Small Yellow Lady’s-slipper orchids and about a dozen Pink Lady’s-slipper orchids within about 12 feet (4 meters) of each other. Liz and I both were excited to find these flowering plants. At this spot last year, the Small Yellow Lady’s-slipper orchids failed to show themselves. I suspected at the time, that they had been browsed by deer, since I did find evidence of deer browse on some other plants that were close by. Here is a shot of the small group of Small Yellow Lady’s-slipper orchids and some close-up shots:

We ooh-ed and aah-ed over these beauties and then headed on down the trail, being ever watchful for those little yellow “torches” off in the distance. Soon, we rounded a corner and saw this beauty in the woods about 6 feet (<2 meters) away. While Tom minded the dogs, Liz, Walter, and I took turns photographing this plant which stood alone with no other orchids nearby except a baby one at its feet:

Hitting the trail again, we soon came upon a group of about two dozen Pink Lady’s-slipper orchids. They were in dappled sun and growing between large ferns, so it was nearly impossible to get a good group shot. But, there were a few pairs of plants that had exceedingly long stems — about 18 inches (45 cm) — standing out in the open. That’s a pretty long stem for a Pink Lady’s-slipper orchid. Here are some shots of a few of the pairs of flowers that we saw:

Of course, there were many opportunities to get shots of single plants, as well:

We did see a number of clumps of Pink Lady’s-slipper orchids that numbered between 7 and 9 plants, but most of the flowers were well past peak beauty.

One flower, in particular, was quite interesting. Inserted into its slit or cleft on the front of the pouch, was a white moth. In previous years I had seen this curious behavior on some Pink Lady’s-slipper orchid flowers in South Carolina, here is the blog entry. But, I still have not been satisfied as to the reason for the moth being there. As far as I understand, Pink Lady’s-slipper orchid does not exude a fragrance or any “reward” for an insect. For pollination purposes, it depends on newly hatched bumble bees to complete the complicated pollination process. Here is the flower and the moth that we saw on this trip:

Continuing on down the trail, we finally reached the area where I had seen the Large Yellow Lady’s-slipper orchids in previous years. These were quite a distance from the trail and were found growing on a fairly steep, north-facing slope. We had to exercise a good deal of caution as we searched for the bright yellow flowers so that we would not end up in a heap at the bottom of the slope. In a short amount of time, I spotted a couple that were growing next to some ferns and beneath a Hemlock tree:

A few of the flowers had odd projections on the front of their lips. I don’t know if this is caused by insects while the flowers are forming, but I have seen similar features on the Large Yellow Lady’s-slipper orchids at one particular site in South Carolina.

At this particular location, I have not see the big groups of this orchid species, so we were seeing a number of single plants scattered here and there. While Liz and Walter and I were busy photographing these plants. Tom was off walking the dogs. He soon came back saying that he had spotted a beautiful example of Large Yellow Lady’s-slipper orchid just up the trail. When we finished with the ones on the slope, we walked up the trail to see what he had found:

It was perhaps the finest Large Yellow Lady’s-slipper orchid we had found all day. Nearby, I found a nice Asclepias quadrifolia or Fourleaf Milkweed blowing in the breeze. It was a very nice specimen, so I staked it up with a few dead twigs in order to keep it still enough to photograph:

We were mostly finished with our photographic adventure for the day, so we headed back with visions of Lady’s-slipper orchids swimming in our heads. But we had seen a number of the large, deep red flowers belonging to Trillium vaseyi or Vasey’s Trillium, and I wanted to try to get some shots of it before we left:

This is one of the nodding, pedicellate (flower with a stem, not sessile) Trilliums. Since the flowers are found beneath the large, spreading leaves, it is quite difficult to photograph. However, I found one plant that was growing on the steep hillside at about eye level, so that made it much easier to photograph without bending the plant over to reveal its large, velvety-red flower. The shot on the left (above) represents a profile of the plant, while the shot on the right (above) is one from directly under the plant as it is bent over. This actually represents two different plants. The one that I temporarily bent over was just next to the trail and was easy to get to.

I do not usually remember to photograph people when I am on a field trip. But today, I did remember to do so. I asked Tom, Walter, and Liz to pose on a fallen log so that I would have a good way to remember them and our outing. Here is the shot:

We soon made it back to our vehicles where we ate our brown-bag lunches. Liz and Tom had a long way to drive before getting home, but I mentioned that I knew a place for Aplectrum hyemale or Putty-root orchid that would be on their way home, so Liz readily agreed that we all should go there. The site is in the Pisgah National Forest on FSR 475, a dusty dirt road that runs for several miles and cuts across the Forest from east to west. I had discovered this particular site while searching for good locations for Putty-root orchids a few years ago. I had seen some of them along the road and had decided to walk the edges for a couple of miles to see if I could find a large population of them. I did find a population of a couple of dozen plants, not in bloom at the time, and that population is still intact.

We arrived at the spot and I got out of the truck to make sure there were still some plants blooming. I was gratified to see that there were about 20 plants in full bloom. We busied ourselves for quite a while, photographing and enjoying the sight:

The image on the right (above) shows the seed capsules from last year’s bloom. I was happy to see that there were numbers of them at this site. That bodes well for the prospect of future generations of this orchid species in the Pisgah National Forest.

Time flies when you are having fun, but it was now time to part our ways. I’m a person who likes to hug, so I was generous with the hugs at this parting. This had been a wonderful trip for all concerned, meeting new people and sharing our love of wildflower photography. Even the dogs seemed to enjoy sniffing new smells and generally having a great time. Before she left, Liz shared with us a special location for Trillium undulatum or Painted Trillium that she and Tom had located on the Blue Ridge Parkway the day before. That is one of my favorite Trillium species, so Walter and I made plans to see them in the next couple of days. Stay tuned…

–Jim