Thursday, April 21, 2011

Orchid Discovery!


Showy Orchis (Orchis spectabilis) April 20, 2011

Yesterday, I was awakened to the wonderful sounds of a wood thrush at dawn. About an hour later, I walked down our driveway and heard oven birds. To cap a wonderful spring morning, I followed my friend's advice and looked intensely in one area for morels. When I stepped down a steep slope, I noticed an unusual color, at first thinking it was probably a phlox or violet flower. Right away, I knew it was an orchid. I quickly forgot about morel hunting.




The species name "spectabilis" is Latin for spectacular--how appropriate! I can't believe I lived here for 27 years and have not seen this orchid before. But perhaps it finally bloomed for the first time after a long time:

Like other members of the Orchid family, it must have certain fungi present in the soil in order to survive. The seeds' outer shells are eaten by the fungi, while the seeds' inner parts obtain needed nourishment from the fungi. This relationship continues as the seed develops into a com, the bulblike underground part oa a flower stem where food is stored. The fungi delivers minerals and nutrients to the corn, which in turn provides the fungi with stubstances that the growing plant has produced through photosynthesis.
Leonard Atkins, Wildflowers of the Blue Ridge and Great Smoky Mountains

So far, this is only specimen I've found. I plan to protect it as much as I can.

What a glorious spring!

10 comments:

  1. We found these in eastern Iowa last spring as well, in a state park. There were 4 plants, all within a few meters of each other. The soil and conditions must have been just right there as we found them nowhere else in the area. Very cool.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have found that same orchid along the Nanthala River along the edges and on islands. Nice find perhaps more will turn up.

    ReplyDelete
  3. How awesome! See...its always good to look for Morels..hee hee.. i find the best things while looking for morels :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wow! What a find. Nurture it well.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Ah, one of my favorite Orchids! Amazing how something as noticeable as that could potentially stay hidden from you for so long. Glad you found it! Can't wait until they start blooming in my neck of the woods :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. How exciting and Congratulations!!!
    Woo Hoo!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Everyone--thanks for the congrats. I kept looking for morels and found no more nor any orchids. But I do enjoy that the quest gets me out in the woods.

    ReplyDelete
  8. What a lovely find! Good luck morel hunting. Fro a couple of years we did find some morels in Linville near our home there but the land was landscaped and we never found them again.

    ReplyDelete
  9. An awesome find! We have morels, though neither my wife and I are very good at finding them and found none this year, but we've never found an orchid.

    ReplyDelete
  10. ooooh. Some very nice photos...thank you for taking us through via photos. I especially enjoyed the swallowtails, the box turtle,the Shooting Star and the wren! How very sweet!
    lg

    ReplyDelete