A June Surprise

Each June, from among the various ground cover plants on the forest floor at Wildwood, emerges hundreds of Pink Lady Slippers. This plant, named for it’s unique slipper-shaped flower is a member of the orchid family. Unlike its cousin the yellow lady slipper, whose numbers diminished due to over collecting decades ago, the pink lady slipper can still be seen throughout New England in the right habitat.

The Lady Slipper (Cypripedium acaule) is a perennial plant, meaning that the same plant will flower each year from mid spring through late spring. Also known as the moccasin flower, it may have been used by native Americans as a sedative and antispasmodic.

Over-collecting took its toll on a number of species of lady slippers, including the yellow and showy lady slippers. These plants have a very long life cycle and have specific habitat needs, including the presence of a fugal mycelia in the soil in order to live. Today, we can still find some populations like these here at Wildwood, thriving in moist areas in dappled shade.

If you happen to locate a population near you, don't disturb it, but instead enjoy it. Watch for bees, one of their prime pollinators, entering into the flower and fumbling around inside. See if you can find a white blossom, which can sometimes occur among the many beautiful pink flowers. And be glad that some of these very unique wildflowers have survived to decorate our native woodlands each spring.

Posted by Bob Speare