showy orchis+ at lime hollow nature center

[cnycharles]

A few weeks ago I was informed that a clump of showy orchis (galearis spectabilis) was starting to flower at the lime hollow nature center in central ny. This was a few weeks early, and co-incided with the flower of yellow ladyslippers at labrador hollow unique area, so I decided to head over to try and get some pictures on my day or afternoon off. As a native orchid-hunting group, we have very few sites of this orchid in central ny that we know about; it can be very common in other areas, especially in vermont. A botanist found these plants at lime hollow and went back the next spring to see if they would flower. At first, plants were coming up with flower buds showing, and then closer to flowering time they were eaten down by deer. I think they went back the next year and nothing was there, or they were once again coming up but didn't flower. In either case, they decided to make a cage and place around the plants/flowers, and the clump did grow and flowers most of the time, now, and actually the plants/flowers are fairly decent size in comparison to other plants i've seen around here and there

nice clump of showy orchis seen looking down-slope

a green variety of jack-in-the-pulpit

purple variety of jack-in-the-pulpit

one of the common names for showy orchis is 'preacher in the pulpit', so
it's fitting that it's growing here with jack in the pulpit . so far, this is the only clump of showy orchis that they've been able to find at the nature center, and the deer in this part of the state are getting to be pretty overwhelming. animal lovers near ithaca are very vocal about any control or moderation of animals, but they can do tremendous damage to native plants (and landscapes), and lead to increased cases of lyme disease. i'm sure if there were less deer around you would see more plants

I love showy orchis, but the flowers face downwards and it can be very difficult to get a nice closeup image. sometimes you have to take a stick and bend the flower spike backwards for a few minutes to see the flower nicely

 

[Dido]

Great pics, love to see them in nature

 

[likespaphs]

great photos!
thanks
:O)

 

[NYEric]

That's a nice group. Let me know when the reginae are up so I can take a Saturday off and come up.

 

[KyushuCalanthe]

Nice Charles, thanks for the photos and information. Do you know what the soil pH is in this area? All the plants I've seen were in the southern Appalachians in acidic conditions.

Yes, deer are completely out of hand in many places in the eastern US. A separation of Bambi from reality is needed or there won't been any herbaceous layer in another couple decades. I know of places in the south where you can actually see a browse line right around 6 feet up trees - almost nothing green exists below that line. That is out of control!

One area here in my hometown in Japan is also overrun with deer - no predators exist anymore to keep them in check and very few people hunt these days. Getting a permit to have a rifle and the hunting permit itself is crazy expensive. So deer eat everything - young saplings, herbs, and orchids! Not very discriminating creatures.

 

[Clark]

When we were in Yellowstone, most of the native orchids were damaged.
Almost all- trampled into the soil, by bison.
Really, just a handfull stood upright.

 

[KyushuCalanthe]

When we were in Yellowstone, most of the native orchids were damaged.
Almost all- trampled into the soil, by bison.
Really, just a handfull stood upright.

What species did you see there?

 

[biothanasis]

Very nice plants & great pics!!! Thank you for sharing!

 

[SlipperFan]

Darn deer!

 

[W. Beetus]

Great pictures!

 

[cnycharles]

Thanks! Tom, I don't know the pH there; it's called 'lime hollow nature center', but of course as you know upstate and all of ny because of the glaciation has many different soil conditions in small areas. There are plenty of evergreens there, but they are usually in rich woods and upstate that often means clay based and with some limestone around this area it's likely neutral or slightly on either side pH wise. Ithaca is being over-run with deer, so much so that the cornell animal hospital has tried to come up with ways of using birth-control on them. At this site, the little beetles that like to eat orchid blooms are very hungry, so it's always a race to get to the flowers to take pictures, before the bugs eat holes in them. ... it's either the deer or the little bugs, but at least with the bugs there is something there to photograph