I was looking through some of my photographic archive when I realized that I may have already missed this year’s flowering of Neottia (formerly Listera) smallii or Kidneyleaf Twayblade orchid. Note of interest: As of 2009, this species has, as have all of the Twayblade orchids, been placed in the genus, Neottia. Here is a closeup

The last location we visited on our Native Orchid Conference field trip schedule was Butterfly Valley Botanical Area, a 500-acre site in Plumas County, California. Our field trip guide had told us that we should expect to see Platanthera dilatata var. leucostachys or Sierra Bog orchid, Neottia (formerly Listera) convallarioides or Broadlipped or Broadleaved Twayblade

After returning from a week-long orchid photography trip to California, I was not even settled in back home when I heard about a rare Spiranthes species that was recently rediscovered in the Green Swamp Preserve, Brunswick County, North Carolina. The preserve is owned and managed by The Nature Conservancy. My friend, Neil Jacobs, is quite the orchid

As I mentioned in the previous post, the final stop on the first day of our field trips put us on top of a mountain in an area called Genesee Valley, Plumas County, California. Here we saw three orchid species: Corallorhiza maculata variety maculata or Spotted Coralroot orchid, Corallorhiza striata variety striata or Striped Coralroot

The final stop on the first day of our field trips was on top of a mountain in an area called Genesee Valley, Plumas County, California. Here we saw three orchid species: Corallorhiza maculata variety maculata or Spotted Coralroot orchid, Corallorhiza striata variety striata or Striped Coralroot orchid, and Cyprpiedium montanum or Mountain Lady’s-slipper orchid

The second stop on the first day of our field trips was just down the road a few miles from the California Lady’s-slipper orchid site. We were told that we would see a fairly common, but none-the-less stunning Epipactis gigantea or Stream orchid. It is also called the Chatterbox orchid. Both common names are well-given.

The first field trip of the 2013 Native Orchid Conference symposium was at Caribou Road in Plumas County, California. Our group caravan of four vehicles met near the little village of Belden (actually merely a crossroads with a store and post office) to plan the day’s activities. Soon, we were on our way. Our first

On both the first and second day of this year’s Native Orchid Conference symposium, we visited sites for the strange and beautiful Cephalanthera austiniae or Phantom orchid. Warning: Technical stuff follows… This particular genus, Cephalanthera, contains a handfull of species of which all but one are found in old world regions of Europe, Asia, and

California provides many great and varying habitats for native wildflowers, one of which is Cypripedium fasciculatum or the Clustered Lady’s-slipper orchid. This is one species of orchid that I have seen only once on a previous trip to northern California, but the flowers were spent, and I really wanted an opportunity to photograph them in peak

It seems like I’m spending a great deal more time botanizing in north Georgia these days than I am in either South Carolina (my headquarters) or North Carolina. But that’s OK. I think it was Sir Edmond Hillary who said the following when asked why he wanted to climb Mt. Everest, “Because it’s there!” That’s good