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
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