native orchids in adirondacks

[cnycharles]

I went north late after work a few days ago to see at what stage the yellow ladyslippers and large padleaf orchids were at, including the pink ladyslippers. I was surprised to not see what I thought were pink ladyslippers as they are usually flowering in two weeks. The yellow ladyslippers in a fen not far north of here were at the stage I figured they would be. I figure they will start flowering at the usual time, though I think some will be later.

yellow ladyslippers furthest along

smaller, later plants

the large padleaf orchids have very large leaves which unfurl like skunk cabbages, and emerge at the same time. you can tell very early if a padleaf is going to flower because the flower stem will be formed and emerge at the same time as the leaves open (though it takes a few months for the stem to grow and the flowers to open)

a nice cluster of red trillium along the forest road up to the padleaf orchids (I had to walk up the hill as the last rain had washed out the road). there were quite a few things in flower at the first fen and up to the padleaf orchids

painted trillium at first fen, quite a few of these open there

 

[Shiva]

In the mean time, before they flowers, nice trilliums and a great walk in the woods.

 

[Marc]

I really like the red trilliums, can we expect an update in the coming weeks?

 

[cnycharles]

thanks! there were quite a few more flowers, but I didn't edit all and it was quite a walk uphill on a washed-out sort-of road . was nice to be outside seeing things that weren't in the inside of a commercial greenhouse (far away from work).

yes, there will be updates! there were lots of the red trilliums along this road; there are spots around this general area where there are carpets of white trilliums that can be seen from along the new york state thruway, and along the old erie canal trail there are spots with tons of the red ones.

 

[W. Beetus]

Beautiful trilliums!

 

[NYEric]

Thanx for sharing.

 

[Dido]

Nice pict thanks for share.
Waiting for the update.
On the first pict, is that the fungus who belongs to the slippers you see byside??

Do you have Arientum growing in your area and maybe have a little pollen for me to spare.

 

[JeanLux]

Good place Charles!!!! Keep the pics coming !!! Jean

 

[etex]

Awesome walk in the woods- thanks for showing us a peak!! Can't wait to see more!

 

[NYEric]

Nice pict thanks for share.
Do you have Arientum growing in your area and maybe have a little pollen for me to spare.

I think they grow further West. Minnesota, etc.

 

[Dido]

I think they grow further West. Minnesota, etc.

I was told that they grow in ontario so it is close I was thinking. :evil:

Oh well still searching for that pollen. Like to try it for Hybrids. And I would like to store it, because plectrochilum is a realy arly bloomer here.

 

[NYEric]

I plan on a trip up there (CNY) in a few weeks; if they're there we'll get you some!

 

[Dido]

I plan on a trip up there (CNY) in a few weeks; if they're there we'll get you some!

This would be absolute great.

 

[yijiawang]

Thank you for the pictures, good photo!

 

[cnycharles]

ram's head orchids and pollen is endangered and protected, so none could be available

just to try and explain, I think that people who are trying to conserve cypripedium arietinum have to jump through hoops just to send pollen, plants or such between states in the u.s. because of its endangered status. I think a few vendors have tried to grow it, but not completely successfully as I haven't seen it offered for sale. it isn't very common in new york state and the only places I've seen it were on protected land, never on someone's property. if you were looking for cyp acaule pubescens or other common cyp species there wouldn't be a problem, but I would never want to take a chance with something as rare as ram's head; besided the legal issues I would rather try and pollinate flowers I see and spread the seed around an extant site (which is also illegal I think unless you own the land or found a place to purchase a plant and have successfully flowered it) to get more of it to grow. I think like eric says, places like minnesota and nearby canada have many more of them, but they still are not common even in that area

 

[cnycharles]

the rest of the adirondack flower/plant pics

there were lots of flowers, ferns and other things around the fen where the yellow ladyslippers were and the mossy wetland up in the adirondacks. here are a few more of the pictures I took but all were taken quickly as I was on the move (not much time available anymore outside of work (sigh))

some of these are common, but if you know what some of these are (besides the red trillium) please chime in and let us know what they are

i'm not sure what these next two pictures are of, except maybe some sort of horsetail or relative?

a fern, but does anyone know which kind?

red trillium, i've heard that they aren't nice smelling though I've never checked them out

colony of white flowering shrubs; I might have a close-up pic later here

I think these are called toad lily. they are closed because of the cloudy weather and being early evening

a friend took pics of these last year, but could not identify them. anyone?

are these emerging pink ladyslippers? the buds and leaves seemed quite smooth to me, but maybe they get fuzzier after emerging a bit. I was surprised to not see obvious pink ladyslippers around when I stopped by as they usually are in flower before memorial day, but things may be a bit delayed this year

this is a small shot of the mossy wetland where the padleaf orchids and others grow up north. in a few week, the pink ladyslippers will be open and soon after a nice colony of early coralroot will emerge and flower . only problem is that by the time that these flowers emerge, so will the local population of mosquitos!

 

[NYEric]

Your mosquitoes are big, slow, and loud = easy to kill. I didn't have much problem last time I was up there. NYC mosquitoes are totally nasty and invisible!

 

[cnycharles]

Your mosquitoes are big, slow, and loud = easy to kill. I didn't have much problem last time I was up there. NYC mosquitoes are totally nasty and invisible!

:rollhappy: where exactly have you been up here? if you're talking about the few ones that gently fly around labrador hollow, then you're in for a real treat if you come up into the adirondacks.... your arms might be flapping so wildly to try and kill them all, that the air movement might lift you up off of the ground! the same thing happens to me as well, especially up on the tug hill

i'm sure the mosquitos that fly in from the marshes of new jersey and surrounding area probably are a pain... probably lots of immigrant blood in them! (meaning bugs from the tropics)

 

[NYEric]

You may be right! My biggest wonder is how the NYC micro-mosquitoes find me inside, on the 20th floor!

 

[cnycharles]

maybe all of the water vapor leaving your apartment, with all of the interesting plant smells pulls them in. they might be looking for some moist foliage to hide under, but find a nice bonus instead .. but of course that is pretty high up!