by Robyn Graygor
Finding a Pink Lady Slipper may spark a yearning for cozier shoes than your rigid hiking boots. It does, after all, resemble a tiny magenta moccasin. The Lady Slipper (Cypripedium acaule) is one of 58 wild orchids found in the northern hemisphere. Standing six to fifteen inches tall, it’s hard to miss. Its distinguishable bulging flower pouch, perched on a leafless stem, ranges from intense magenta to whitish-pink coloring. The two leaves it does have, sprout at the bottom of the stalk in opposing directions.
Their beauty has been appreciated for centuries among Native Americans in the North and Canada. One legend from the Ojibwe people discusses the origins of this elegant flower: a harsh winter caused uncontrollable illness throughout a tribe, forcing one woman to seek help for her people. She received medicine from the next village, and returned home in a storm. The legend goes that tiny slipper-like flowers grew in her footprints for her bravery and courage.
Despite their unique and desirable appearance, Lady Slippers should not be picked or uprooted. Not only are they native to New York State, but are a protected wildflower. In New England their populations are even considered threatened, and should not be disturbed.
Lady Slippers generally begin flowering between May and July after years of development. The long process of seed to mature flower begins with a fungus called Rhizoctonia mycorrhizae. The seeds need threads of the fungus to help break them open and pass food and nutrients on to them in a form of symbiosis. Once it’s a mature plant, the Lady Slipper’s roots provide nu-trients to the fungus, and can live up to 20 years.
So as summer approaches keep an eye out for these mesmerizing orchids in the park (specifically on the Blue Trail,) and maybe a string of Lady Slippers will even sprout in your footsteps on your way home!