Putty-roots and Pinks and Yellows! Oh My! — 2016-05-07

Today, my destination was the DuPont State Recreational Forest in Transylvania County, just east of Cedar Mountain, North Carolina. Here is where I expected to find both Pink and Yellow Lady’s-slipper orchids, the latter in two distinct varieties. This is a place I was first introduced to by my North Carolina photographer friend, Kelvin Taylor, some years ago. And, I’ve been going back to the location this time each year to see these spectacular orchids.

But, on the way up the mountain on Hwy. 276, I stopped at several spots to check out my favorite sites for Aplectrum hyemale or Putty-root orchid. This is one of our few native orchids whose single leaf comes out in late fall and disappears before the flowers bloom in early May. It has evolved to take advantage of the sunlight that comes through the forest canopy when the canopy is without leaves during late Autumn and Winter. Once the canopy leafs out in the Spring, the orchid leaf withers, and it is no longer useful to the plant — it has done its job.

I stopped at the first spot, but after searching for 15 minutes, I could find no sign of this elusive orchid. Even when it is in full bloom, it is difficult to spot due to its camouflage-like coloration. Orchids experience cycles that produce many plants and flowers in some years and few to none in other years. Disappointed but not dissuaded from my search, I travelled up the road to the second location. This location is on private property, so I stopped to let the owner know I was there to photograph his wildflowers, and he gave me the OK to do so. He is a photographer, so he understands my passion for wildflowers.

Putty-root orchid

I walked the property where I had seen the Putty-root orchid on several other occasions, and soon found a handful of plants — some just coming up. This location was shown to me by another North Carolina friend, Neil Jacobs. I thought it would be instructive to show the different stages of the flowering plant, so I have put together a series of shots that shows the flower stalk as it progresses from early spike to full bloom. The first shot shows the single leaf with a flower spike just protruding from the underground, bulb-like corm:

The next two shots show the extending spike, with the flower buds still covered by a protective sheath:

Next, the buds come free from the protective sheath and begin expanding:

Finally, the flowers begin opening and come into full bloom and are pollinated:

Over the next month, the flowers form seed capsules, and eventually the seed capsules split and release the seeds to create future generations of orchids:

A neat life cycle, eh?

From this site, I travelled to Cedar Mountain where I turned off on the road leading to the location for Pink and Yellow Lady’s-slipper orchids. I parked near the trailhead and collected my camera gear. As I was standing next to my truck, I noticed a lady in the car next to me, getting her camera gear in order. Wow — another photographer! I wondered what she might be photographing today…

I began walking from the parking lot toward the trail, and was joined by the lady’s husband and their dog. We struck up a conversation, and he asked what I was there to photograph. When I told him, “Wildflowers”, he paused a bit and asked, “Would you happen to be Jim Fowler?”. I was floored that he might know who I was! Turns out, his wife Becky, follows my blog. She joined us and we struck up a great conservation about photography, blogging, and the Lady-slipper orchids we were about to photograph. As we walked down the trail, her husband told me he had found what he thought was a double-flowered Yellow Lady’s-slipper orchid, but he wasn’t sure, since it was last week that he saw it, and it was not yet in full bloom. I asked him if he would show it to me, and he agreed.

It was on a ridge that was pretty far off the trail, so we scrambled onto the ridge and walked up a bit before he pointed out the pair of plants, one with two blooming flowers and one with two unopened buds. Here are a few shots of the flowers and buds, taken from different angles:

What was especially nice about these was the fact that here were two plants probably from the same root structure, and they were both double-flowered plants — very unusual for the Yellow Lady’s-slipper orchids at this site. These were the Small Lady’s-slipper orchid. The main difference between the two varieties in our region, is that the Small Yellow Lady’s-slipper orchids have dark petals and sepals with a 1-inch (2.5 cm) pouch, while the Large Yellow Lady’s-slipper orchids have yellowish-green petals and sepals (with some minor streaking of reddish-brown in the petals and sepals) and about a 2-inch (5 cm) pouch. I was very happy that he showed me these plants. We chatted at some length about the plants while Becky took her photographs. After the photography was done, I thanked them, and they headed back to their car. It was time for me to continue my hike to the Large Yellow Lady’s-slipper orchids and maybe some Pink Lady’s-slipper orchids along the way.

Farther on down the trail, I began to see a number of Pink Lady’s-slipper orchids in groups of up to 8 flowering plants. They put on a pretty good show when there are large numbers of flowers in a group. Here is a close-up shot of one of the groups — a gathering of 7 ladies in a row…:

But I find singles and pairs the most interesting. Here are a few shots of those singles and pairs:

Moving on down the trail, I finally reached the spot where I had seen Large Yellow Lady’s-slipper orchids in the past. Getting to them required leaving the trail and sliding down a steep, fern-covered slope. These beauties are not visible from the trail, so it helps to know where they are in order to photograph them. Scrambling down the slope, I was soon rewarded by bright yellow spots in the distance. They were in full bloom! Here are some shots of the Large Yellow Lady’s-slipper orchids I photographed:

I finished with these plants on the slope and headed back up the trail to the truck. As I neared the parking lot, I remembered a patch of Small Yellow Lady’s-slipper orchids that I had passed by while talking to Becky and her husband. So I went off trail again to where I had seen them last year. The group of plants was smaller in number than last year, but there were a few nice flowers to photograph. Here are two of the best:

Another great day in the field! I had the opportunity to meet some new friends that I didn’t know I had. We shared a few new locations, and got some good pictures. This is the peak of the Spring orchid season for us, and I wouldn’t miss a trip to this location for anything in the world. My next adventures will probably take me down to the Carolina coastal plain where the Rose Bud orchids and Rose Pogonia orchids should be in full bloom.

Before I go, I’ll leave you with some images of Calopogon tuberosus or Common Grass-pink orchids I photographed in a Greenville County Heritage Preserve a couple of days ago:

Until next time, Happy Hunting!

–Jim