LADY SLIPPER BLOOMING BRIGHTLY

(05/16/2011)

In the past week pink lady slippers have started blooming in remote patches of Calhoun County woodland where deer aren't too plentiful. Article and photos by Forester, Russ Richardson The extra moist spring of 2011 is causing a wide range of our native woodland flowers to produce more abundant and showier blossoms than usual. Pink lady slippers were nearly harvested to extinction in the late 1800's and early 1900's when they were heavily used for medicine. The extremely long lived native orchid is very slow to reproduce and has proven to be all but impossible to transplant or cultivate. Lady slippers are no longer used for medicine but a healthy deer herd and introduced plants like Japanese stiltgrass and garlic mustard are a looming threat that might make such displays even more uncommon in the future. 2O11

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