Calypso bulbosa, Colorado native

[gore42]

Last Saturday, I took a short hike to a Calypso bulbosa population on the northern border of the Rocky Mountain National Park with a few members of the High Country Orchid Club. This population was growing at approximately 10,000 feet, and some snow the previous week had crushed some of the earlier blooms (visible in a few of the photos).

Anyway, I ended up locating a few dozen of these little guys within 5 feet of the trail, and I'm sure I could have found more if I had searched, but I had to get back home quickly that day, so I let these photos suffice. There were 2-3 groups of several plants growing together, and then many single plants along the trail's edge. Because of the late snow, as I say, not all of them were in the best shape. I tried to capture them in as many stages of blooming as I could find.

I can't decide which photos to post, so I'm just posting a ton of them. Hope you like them!

More to come....

 

[gore42]

And that's it for now Next on my list are the native Cyps...

As Ever,
Matthew Gore

 

[Marco]

That native is really cool Matt!

 

[cdub]

I love this little plant. Have yet to see it in the wild for myself, though.

 

[likespaphs]

so freakin' cool!!!

 

[Rick]

That's an awsome orchid.

Thanks for the pics

 

[parvi_17]

Calypso bulbosa is a spectacular orchid, and those are fantastic photos. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Park Bear]

wonderful looking native

 

[NYEric]

Nice photos. They must have a tremendous range because I was told about some in L.I. NY.

 

[gore42]

Eric,

They do have a huge range... they're found across North America and Northern Europe (at least Scandanavia), but with a good deal of variation, I'm told.

- Matt

 

[Heather]

What a great and beautiful sight! Thanks Matt.

 

[SlipperFan]

Great find! Not too long ago, I saw a Calypso bulbosa plant and flower for the first time -- I was surprised at how small it is. It sure is cute, though. Nice photos, Matt.