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Northland Nature: Orchids to be found in woods

As May ends, we look out on a green landscape. Lawn grass has grown so fast that we’ve needed to mow it a time or two already.

The roadsides and fields have quickly greened as well. And the forests have leafed out. Even the last trees, usually the large ones, have a new set of leaves. The woods is now shady.

Spring wild flowers that thrived just a couple of weeks ago as sunlight penetrated to the forest floor are now fading. These ephemerals took advantage of their short-lived opportunities. Some will linger with leaves seen later in the season. Others will drop leaves and become part of the composting litter. By July, we will not even see that they bloomed here in May.

Their place is taken at this time by those plants that are more shade tolerant. Starflower, corn-lily (blue bead-lily), wild lily-of-the-valley, sarsaparilla, baneberry and bunchberry will all bloom where the earlier bloodroots, spring beauties and bellworts were. Soon proliferation of the flowering plants will be in the open roadsides and fields of June. But among those still in the woods are the ladyslipper orchids.

Many kinds of orchids can be found by the diligent searcher in the Northland. Most are rather small and a good number are in swampy sites; hard to get to. But some, like the ladyslippers, are well worth the trip. These stand out as being large and colorful: yellow ladyslippers, pink ladyslippers (moccasin flowers) and showy ladyslippers (the state flower of Minnesota).

Pink ladyslippers tend to be in the acidic soils associated with bogs and pine forests. Showies, also of wetlands, bloom later in the season. Yellow ladyslippers are blooming in some of our area mixed forests now, in late May. We are fortunate to have such huge growths of these beautiful flowers along trails at some nearby state parks.

Plants reach up to one and one-half feet tall and though not always in big populations, they are rarely alone. Stems are very green with several long leaves protruding. Pink ladyslippers differ greatly in this aspect by having their two large basal leaves near the ground, none on the stem. Above the leaves is the hollow oval-shaped yellow flower.

Petals have fused to make this growth. Nearby are the brownish petals which are twisted or braided in appearance. This arrangement of yellow and brown makes for an interesting and beautiful plant that we will be able to view over the next couple of weeks from late May to mid-June.

Ladyslipper orchids are a bit mysterious in their growth. They are perennials and are often many years old. Despite this age, they are fragile and frequently do not survive transplanting. Plants have a mycorrhizal association with soil fungi that can be easily disturbed and difficult to regrow. Now, in late May, is a great time to get out and see these yellow ladyslipper orchids, but do not disturb them and take only pictures.

Larry Weber is author of the “Backyard Almanac.” He lives in Carlton County and teaches natural science at Duluth’s Marshall School

 

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