04/29/2024
Mountain orchids are a treat of Gods creation! Here is a wonderful explanation from an online article:
History of the Lady Slipper Flower (This is one telling)
Native American folklore tells the story of a young maiden who ran barefoot in the snow in search of medicine to save her tribe, but was found collapsed on the way back from her mission with swollen, frozen feet. As a result, beautiful lady slipper flowers then grew where her feet had been as a reminder of her bravery. In addition to inspiring folklore, lady slipper roots were also widely used by Native Americans as medicinal herbs.
Another name for the flower is the Moccasin Flower.
Germination is the first difficulty a young lady’s slipper must overcome. The pink lady’s slipper is a type of orchid. As with most orchids, lady’s slipper seeds have no stored starch, they rely on specific fungi in the soil to germinate and grow. Sometimes seeds wait years for their fungal partners. These fungi crack open the seed and funnel nutrients from the soil to the developing seedling. This symbiotic association between the fungus and the roots of the plant remains in place for the entire life of the lady’s slipper — one reason they are so difficult to transplant; transplanting tends to disrupt these fungal connections.
Once it has germinated it can be years (10 to 17) before the lady’s slipper first blooms. From then on they don’t bloom every year, most producing seeds only four or five times (this isn’t much for a long-lived plant). In between blooming they’ll remain dormant in the soil, gathering resources until ready to bloom again.
God is so cool!
