Wildflowers
The Orchid and the Fungus
An orchid that blooms in June of each year is the pink lady slipper. This orchid interacts with a specific soil fungus that enables its seeds to sprout. Unlike most seeds that have a food supply to provide nourishment for sprouting, this orchid’s seeds need the threads of the fungus to attach to the seed […]
Saving Wild Orchids
Out in eastern Long Island, New York, one summer’s day a colleague and I visited a bog surrounded by dunes to determine the health of the habitat. As we approached the area we noticed pinkish/purple flowers growing throughout the bog amongst bulrushes, sedges and wild grasses. At the fen, we discovered the flowers were part […]
Helping an Endangered Orchid
When I worked for state parks in New York on Long Island, one of my responsibilities was to monitor the populations of rare plants. I do not recall what year it was, but it was in the 1990’s when we had a very dry summer. In July of that year, I happened across the crested […]
Wild Orchids Part 1
When you think of orchids, large showy blossoms of various colors seen in plant centers is what comes to mind to many people. But the wild orchids of the northeastern U.S. are smaller and tend to be a single color. Summer in the north is the time of year to find various species of wild […]
Candelabras of the Meadow
From Georgia to Labrador in wet meadows and fens, fuzzy white flowers clustered together grow among rushes and sedges and other wildflowers. These candle-like blossoms with compound leaves are from a plant named Canadian Burnet. These flowers, laden with pollen attract bees and other pollinators. Since it grows in acidic environments, it absorbs tannins making […]
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