... or the lily-leaved twayblade. Ken Hull, Jerry Pedini and I traveled down to the Hazelton, Pa area to check out and take some pictures of this native orchid. I had only seen one plant of this species growing on the edge of cicero swamp near syracuse, ny a few years ago, and that plant didn't come up the next year (drought, saw remains of dead plant next year). A fellow native orchid enthusiast from pennsylvania shared one of his locations with us. there are only four plants in that whole area. Ken went down about a week before, but only one plant was in flower. I was told to take a day off during the week for having worked the weekend shift, so we set up a quick road trip. Liliifolia isn't a brightly-colored flower, but if you appreciating subtlety, it has very beautiful flowers, especially viewed very closely! the flowers are much like listera convallarioides (broad-lipped twayblade) which are green, but the plant doesn't have twayblade leaves or a stem; instead it has leaves more like showy orchis
there are a few liparis that are in the horticultural trade now, but they are tropical plants. these are not likely to be very easy to grow in a pot, and should be left where they are found!
two plants at the base of the tree. one is more compact than the others, but is much more colorful
the tallest plant a few feet away from the tree. not as colorful but large and beautiful. the flowers have an opaque, iridescent quality that you have to see up close and in person to really appreciate. this plant had sixteen flowers and buds; though the smaller flowering plant was quite a bit shorter than this one, it still had fifteen flowers and buds
closeup of tallest plant/flowers
closeup of more compact plant, note the much brighter colors
... did I mention that it was mostly cloudy and very breezy? Ken and Jerry took their pictures first, then I waited interminably long periods between shots waiting for the wind to die down. behind the plants I had my ancient red/white golfing umbrella set up to cut the wind; it worked fairly well but also cut the light a little. later on there was some sun which made it a little easier to get nice pictures (ken and jerry were looking at and taking pictures of some plant called 'fly poison' that ken was very excited about; it wasn't an orchid so I didn't take any pictures
actually it was fairly attractive, but I wandered up to where they were after putting my camera away in the car, as I didn't think there would be anything else worth taking a picture! :rollhappy: the plant 'fly poison' is possibly extirpated in new york state so ken was very happy to get pictures of it. the plant looks like a bluish lily (like your tiger lilies) but the white flowers grow in a tube shape on the end of a long stem which elongates as the newest flowers mature (sort of like a bottle brush). I guess google can show you what the flowers look like)
there are a few liparis that are in the horticultural trade now, but they are tropical plants. these are not likely to be very easy to grow in a pot, and should be left where they are found!
two plants at the base of the tree. one is more compact than the others, but is much more colorful
the tallest plant a few feet away from the tree. not as colorful but large and beautiful. the flowers have an opaque, iridescent quality that you have to see up close and in person to really appreciate. this plant had sixteen flowers and buds; though the smaller flowering plant was quite a bit shorter than this one, it still had fifteen flowers and buds
closeup of tallest plant/flowers
closeup of more compact plant, note the much brighter colors
... did I mention that it was mostly cloudy and very breezy? Ken and Jerry took their pictures first, then I waited interminably long periods between shots waiting for the wind to die down. behind the plants I had my ancient red/white golfing umbrella set up to cut the wind; it worked fairly well but also cut the light a little. later on there was some sun which made it a little easier to get nice pictures (ken and jerry were looking at and taking pictures of some plant called 'fly poison' that ken was very excited about; it wasn't an orchid so I didn't take any pictures
actually it was fairly attractive, but I wandered up to where they were after putting my camera away in the car, as I didn't think there would be anything else worth taking a picture! :rollhappy: the plant 'fly poison' is possibly extirpated in new york state so ken was very happy to get pictures of it. the plant looks like a bluish lily (like your tiger lilies) but the white flowers grow in a tube shape on the end of a long stem which elongates as the newest flowers mature (sort of like a bottle brush). I guess google can show you what the flowers look like)
