cyp. parvi var parvi + more in virginia

[cnycharles]

ken hull and I took a lightning trip down to virginia over the memorial day weekend, saw some small southern yellow ladyslipper plus some other wildflowers and orchids at an undisclosed location in the heart of the state. the ladyslippers were all in one large clump and were just over 100 flowers in the clump. we were told there were more within a few miles but didn't find them. it was beautiful weather and there were u-pick strawberries to be had but ken was driving and wasn't interested in stopping (grr). the ladyslippers had a different fragrance which I couldn't place, maybe like very old-fashioned perfume of some kind

the whole clump was only maybe three feet across and mostly in full sun and on a fairly dry bank. ticks were to be found guarding the plants as well as the deer that ran away as I found the plants

trying to show the top and inside lip color

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also were some wildflowers we found, ken knew what they all were

ken pointing out the edible fruits on the pink azalea

 

[Heather]

Well, gee. I'm not posting MY Cyp. parvi var. parvi now! Good heavens that's FABULOUS!

 

[cnycharles]

Well, gee. I'm not posting MY Cyp. parvi var. parvi now! Good heavens that's FABULOUS!

well i'm not completely sure that these are small southern yls, so I need to see your pictures! some pictures i've seen the plants and flowers look different than this and others look pretty much like this; confusing
... and thanks!

 

[Heather]

Tell me about it!

I'm not sure either! These are the smaller of the two we have at GITW. Brian (who visited the other day) and I went round and round trying to figure out what our signage was telling us. I think we decided that the small was parvi. var. parvi, and the large was parvi var. pubescens? But contrary to my thinking, pubescens does not indicate larger, just fuzzier.

Can we get some sort of final clarification on this (and NO jokes!)

 

[Heather]

okay, here's my SMALL yellow.
Labeled parviflorum var. parviflorum.

 

[NYEric]

Heather, give me my camera back! :viking:
Cnycharles, that's amazing I can't believe they were just there and not planted and not totally eaten by deer, I hate ticks! Thanx for posting, U2 H.

 

[Heather]

Heather, give me my camera back! :viking:

okay, that made me laugh - I will admit I thought when I uploaded the Ulla photo, "damn, how'd you get Eric's camera?" :sob:

 

[cnycharles]

oh, too funny! :rollhappy:

usually, all things considered the standard yellows (parviflorum var. pubescens) will be much larger than the southern small yellows and the northern small yellows. .... you must be used to hearing from from nyeric all the time, I hadn't even thought about making a joke
thanks for the pic, heather, the necks on those flowers is amazing. I can't say if that is normal because i've only seen pictures online. the plants we saw were fairly short, but then they were right in the sun and that could make them shorter

about the plants being 'there', I thought they might've been planted though when we were told there were others a few miles away I thought maybe there was a better chance they were 'just there'. about the deer, from what i've seen I don't ever remember seeing yellow ladyslippers of any kind eaten by deer. I've definitely seen showy ladyslipper buds/flowers eaten by deer. I've heard that you can get contact dermatitis if you handle the yellows too much so maybe that does ward off the deer a bit. maybe there is a way to isolate this compound and market it as a spray to put on plants that you don't want to get chomped by deer.

Two summers ago I took a native orchid picture-taking trip through eastern long island, connecticut, mass., r.i. and cape cod, and I got some ticks on me from getting down to take pictures of spiranthes tuberosa. I didn't notice they were in the very short grass until I saw some dirt on the back of my film camera; I tried to wipe it off on the grass and then when I looked at the camera again it was covered with a swarm of tiny ticklets...... I was not happy to see them on me as well

 

[Heather]

oh, too funny! :rollhappy:
you must be used to hearing from from nyeric all the time, I hadn't even thought about making a joke

Unfortunately, yes. oke:

Ticks are a problem here, indeed...I have a funny story about that but it needs to wait until I hook up a new surge protector. I'll PM you. We had a power outage last week and 3 weeks earlier a lightening strike at work so I'm a paranoid girl right now with regards to electronics.

 

[cnycharles]

Tell me about it!

I'm not sure either! These are the smaller of the two we have at GITW. Brian (who visited the other day) and I went round and round trying to figure out what our signage was telling us. I think we decided that the small was parvi. var. parvi, and the large was parvi var. pubescens? But contrary to my thinking, pubescens does not indicate larger, just fuzzier.

Can we get some sort of final clarification on this (and NO jokes!)

sometimes if the location is colder or fairly calcareous, the plants and flowers of standard yellow ladyslipper (cyp. parv. var pubescens) can be quite a bit smaller. In a fen a little ways north of where I work, there are a few yellow ladyslippers that aren't that tall except for one clump and that is mainly due to the lime in the water/soil and being cool. If you go much higher north in latitude where it is generally cooler they will be found more out in the sun, and the combination makes them shorter and with smaller flowers.

the northern small yellow (cyp. parv. var makasin) often has generally smaller plants but look sort of stretched with more stem between each leaf and flower, but definitely smaller flowers but the flowers look like they are on stilts kind of like what the flowers in your picture look like. I don't have enough experience to know what the cyp. parv. var parv (southern smalls) generally look like or if they range in size at all. I've seen pictures where the base of each leaf really clasp and wrap around the stems. most standard yellows seem to just have the leaves extending outwards and not really clasping the stem that much. small white ladyslipper (cyp candidum) really has that leaf that wraps around the stem

 

[SlipperFan]

2nd photo is very striking.

 

[KyushuCalanthe]

That clump is outstanding regardless if someone planted them there or not!

 

[cnycharles]

2nd photo is very striking.

thanks, I realized after I took it and was reviewing them all that it sort of looked like the old football play 'the flying wedge' with the running back trailing the front line. i know, guys can't seem to go very long without thinking about sports...

I agree about the planted or not thing; over a hundred blooms in a three-foot circle is just amazing, especially that as eric says the deer haven't eaten them or someone hasn't d** them u* . Ken was quite paranoid about our leaning over our cameras when someone would drive by as he didn't want to draw attention to something that a shovel-wielder might notice. a few people would ask what was so great that we were leaning over intently trying to get pictures and he would try to be really nonchalant and vague! we were right next to the road near a tourist area so not attracting attention was almost impossible.

 

[JeanLux]

must have been a beautiful view!!! Jean

 

[John M]

Wow. That clump with over 100 flowers is spectacular! Thanks for all the photos. It's so nice to see that!

 

[Ross]

Beautiful specimen! Thanks for the photos!

 

[fundulopanchax]

An extraordinary wild clump! Well worth the trip to see it and thanks very much for sharing with us.

Ron

 

[Nic]

Astounding. I was most impressed by the Trillium Grandiflorum Roseum. This is native to the Blue Ridge, but I cannot find a division anywhere. I have seen similar orchids in the hollers of Mason Co WV. That is an amazing clump, and in full sun, too!

 

[cnycharles]

Astounding. I was most impressed by the Trillium Grandiflorum Roseum. This is native to the Blue Ridge, but I cannot find a division anywhere. I have seen similar orchids in the hollers of Mason Co WV. That is an amazing clump, and in full sun, too!

I had thought they were just white trilliums that had gone past and turning pinkish and were more colorful about it than the ones I'd seen up here; didn't know it was a different variety. I'll have to tell Ken as he thought the same and didn't look closely at them.
I'd be interested in other spots where there might be some cyp. parv parv and that would be slightly closer to NY... sort of (smile). There had been a small tree to the right of the clump that had likely been over the plants originally, but had been cut away. I wondered if the plants would be taller if not in complete sun.

 

[Nic]

I had thought they were just white trilliums that had gone past and turning pinkish and were more colorful about it than the ones I'd seen up here; didn't know it was a different variety. I'll have to tell Ken as he thought the same and didn't look closely at them.
I'd be interested in other spots where there might be some cyp. parv parv and that would be slightly closer to NY... sort of (smile). There had been a small tree to the right of the clump that had likely been over the plants originally, but had been cut away. I wondered if the plants would be taller if not in complete sun.

No I think that it is a blue ridge grouping called Grandiflorum var Roseum, on the cover of the Case's book "Trilliums" there is a clump. It is the Holy Grail for Trillium collectors and in jeopardy at the site you photoed. I cannot find anyone on the internet to sell me one, although I see them on plant lists for some institutional collections. Anyone sees any for sale let me know!