More Orchids in Glacier National Park

I hiked back into the woods weekly until, finally, in July, the flowers began to open. The small blossoms were greenish-white, and were just as obviously orchids as were the leaves.

The Small Northern Bog Orchids were a real surprise. They were growing in the woods behind the inn we were running. Though unexpected and new to me, this orchid proved easy to identify because of its single leaf and small, widely spaced greenish-white flowers. The long, strap-shaped lip of the flower was another easy field mark.

Small Northern Bog Orchids are pollinated by mosquitoes. (Large Round-leaved Rein Orchids are pollinated by three different species of moth.)

And then there was the orchid find of the summer. Of my life even. And it was an accidental find.

Andrew, the young fellow who told me about the Calypso Orchids, said he had seen something "big and blue" along a nearby road. I drove over for a look suspecting, from his description, something of a garden escapee nature, and on the way, a cluster of white eggs hanging from a stem caught my eye. Could it be, I wondered, could it be?

It could.

I had found Mountain Lady's-slippers (Cypripedium montanum)!

Now I am no stranger to Lady's-slippers - Pink and Yellow Lady's-slippers are species I've seen in Indiana and North Carolina - but these little gemstones, they were unexpected, rather uncommon, and the sort of wildflowery sight that brings you to an abrupt halt, where you then consider retiring from chasing blossoms. What could be better than this? I never imagined I would ever be so lucky to see these delicate, white orchids.

As you would expect, the lower white lip petal is inflated and pouch-like. Occasionally it is decorated with a few purple stripes, particularly on the inside. The sepals and lateral petals are more than two inches long, brownish-purple, and hang about the pouch like curly dreadlocks.

Meriwether Lewis wrote about Mountain Lady's-slippers in his journal on June 30, 1806: I also met with the plant in blume which is sometimes called the lady's slipper or mockerson flower...

The "big and blue" flowers Andrew had sent me looking for were garden escapees. Irises.

"More Orchids in Glacier National Park" (c) 2006 Gregg M. Pasterick - All Rights Reserved.

All Photographs (c) Gregg M. Pasterick - All Rights Reserved.

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