Arethusa bulbosa (Dragon’s Mouth orchid) rediscovered in Transylvania County, North Carolina — 2014-05-30

Last night, I received the wonderful news that a rare orchid, Arethusa bulbosa or Dragon’s Mouth orchid also known as Swamp Pink was just found in a remote site in Transylvania County, North Carolina! It is rare in the sense that it has not been seen in North Carolina in more than 15 years and not in South Carolina since the 1970s. It is fairly plentiful in New England and almost a weed in some parts of Maritime Canada. We photographed it in the thousands last July in Newfoundland, Canada, but the farther south you go from Canada, the rarer it becomes.

However, this sighting probably represents the southernmost occurrence of this species in North America. It used to be a bit more plentiful in the Carolina mountains, but due to reclamation of land by draining of wetlands and cutting of forests, many of the mountain bogs that served as habitat for this diminutive orchid are no longer in existence. Fortunately, some areas have been protected or are so remote that patches of suitable habitat still survive.

Shortly after lunch, I met the lady who had told me about the recent find. We greeted each other and then wasted no time heading off to check out the location. After driving a distance down a two-track road, we ended up deep in the woods. I packed my camera gear and off we went down an old trail to the site. Upon arriving, one of the first things I noticed was a huge stand of Xerophyllum asphodeloides or Turkeybeard.

Note: Thanks to my friend Ed McDowell, I have corrected the previously mis-described Xerophyllum species as Beargrass, which is a western species. It is indeed Turkeybeard.

It’s not very common in this area, so I set about taking a few shots of these tall (about 4 feet or 1.2 meters) plants. Some were just beginning to bloom while others had a full set of open flowers:

But that was not the real reason I was there. I was there to see the Arethusa bulbosa. Our guide carefully led me on a deer-path of a trail, dodging other species of orchids just coming out of the ground and pitcher plants that were finished blooming for the year. Then, all of a sudden, she said, “There they are!”, and pointed to the ground. There they are, indeed! Two, dainty, magenta-petaled orchids tilted in an odd fashion at my feet:

The reason for the tilting, I would soon discover, was that the stem of one of the orchids had suffered some kind of trauma and was partially broken. It was leaning on the stem of the other orchid for support. I had hoped to be able to manually pollinate the orchids so that seed capsules would be formed, but the flowers were so precarious, that I decided not to attempt it. So, I set up my tripod and reflector and began to photograph the pair just as they were:

I noticed that the leaves, which are usually pressed to the stem while the flowers are in bloom, were beginning to separate from the stem, so I thought it would be good to get a shot of the leaves:

The leaves seemed to be a bit damaged, as well. But… what we have here is an extremely rare occurrence of orchids in an area where they haven’t been found in quite a long time. Damaged or not, I’m surely very pleased to have been given the opportunity to photograph these plants. Their reappearance is due solely to the stewardship of a few people who have an abiding interest in conservation and preservation of natural things. Thanks to their diligent work of clearing the property of invasive Rhododendron species and other woody shrubs, I was able to see an orchid that I thought was gone forever in the Carolinas… Thank you!

–Jim