Location Advise for various Lady Slipper orchids in MD, PA, NY, and N. NJ

Hey folks,

 

I need a little help. I'm going to have to miss the bloom of the Pink Lady Slippers

here in Alabama at DeSoto State Park. The good news is that I'll be heading up

north in two weeks, so I might be able to catch some members of the family

blooming while I'm up there. I'll be in or able to get to MD, PA, NY (Hudson

Valley/OC), and northern NJ.

 

Does anybody have any park or preserve recommendations to locate members of

the Ladyslipper family? Yellow, Pink, White, interested in them all. I saw a Yellow

in the Sipsey Wilderness earlier this year, and I'm hooked!

 

Detailed location information, beyond what park or preserve, and maybe a trail

name, should be e-mailed, to prevent making public record of exact locations

availible for plant pirates.

 

Any help will be appreciated, especially since I'll be studying for the bar for the

next few months, and I won't be able to research on my own, but I will need to get

out a little once and a while!

May be you can try the National Arboretum in Washington DC. Their staff may be able to help you. See following link.

 

http://whaticaught.com/Burchicks_Corner/PHOTOS/National_Arboretum.html

I may have a solution in NE PA.

 

Does anyone know anything about Archibold Pothole State Park?

 

I found this hike description for a June 4, 2006 trip: "ARCHBALD POTHOLE See hundreds of pink lady slipper orchids in bloom on this

surprisingly scenic loop through the park ? 3 miles easy to moderate"

 

A search of a stock agency brought up a few pictures of large stands of them at that park.

 

Can anybody confirm this, including bloom timing?

 

Btw, thanks for the tip, Michael.

Hi Joshua.

 

I was a member of the Native Orchid Conference and was involved in the conservation efforts led by this group to protect orchids. I cannot help you about the states listed but I have to pass along a warning to those who may be thinking about posting an answer to you in this open forum. Lady Slipper Orchids are under attack by foolish individuals who dig them up, only to let them die in their gardens. This is especially true of Large Yellow, Small Yellow, Showy, Small White, and especially Ram's Rorn Lady Slippers. A fellow I read about headed up to the Alaska to photograph an endemic species on Kodak Island; when he got to the exact spot there was only a hole to greet him. Because of this threat posters are advised to only respond directly to Joshua if they wish him to know localities of such orchids and not make them generally known. A few fools ruin this for everyone.

 

Pink Lady's Slippers are still pretty common, but the sites that I know of are in Michagen, Minnesota, Kentucky, and North Carolina There are places in Minnesota where Large Yellow and Showy Orchids can actually be said to be abundant. Let's hope they remain that way.

PS. Chasing Orchids in the wild is a remarkable journey. A book for your area to consider is "Wild Orchids of the Northeastern United States". My record for one weekend was 13 species in Minnesota.

 

As to picking exact times when they will bloom is rather a guess at best. Like most flowers the blooming times vary. For example Pink Lady Slippers in your area are said to bloom "May 15-July 25"

 

And that should have been Ram's Head L S not Ram's Horn L S

Douglas,

 

Thanks for the warning in addition to mine.

 

We found some Yellow Lady Slippers along an unofficial trail in the Sipsey Wilderness in Alabama a few weeks ago, and I've been totally hooked since. The one guy I was hiking with hadn't seen one in 20 years of hiking in Alabama! Unfortunately, there were only two plants, and there were signs of digging nearby. While a subsequent check by more a experienced individual suggested that the digging was animal-related, we were all pretty agitated.

 

I reiterate that if you have any detailed information, I ask that you e-mail it to me, not post it in the open.

Let me clarify...

 

If you know of a park or preserve, I think you'll be okay posting the name in the open. If the park or some entity has already made the trail public, I'd go ahead and post it in the open.

 

Otherwise, I'd prefer if you e-mailed me. Especially any trail names or detailed locations that are not a matter of public record already.

This location is safe for posting: Longwood Garden, sorth of Philly.

 

BTW No offence to Joshua, in general, even email the location is still not a good idea.

David,

 

No offense taken. I'm usually not one for keeping secrets, but when it comes to people going around and stealing our natural treasures, I soften on that opinion. I obviously understand if anyone feels uncomfortable sharing this information.

 

<b>In fact, I'd actually prefer that people leave no more location responses in this thread.</b> I have a location that was already a matter of public record, and I'd prefer to keep others safe and quiet.

I also just noticed my spelling error...

Problem dealt with, managed to catch them blooming at DeSoto State Park in Alabama.

To share...<div></div>

Nice picture, Joshua. These flowers are special, as you have discovered.

 

I used your admonition not to publish the exact loaction of any flowers as a lesson for my AP Environmental Science students about the problem with plant poaching. Thanks for the timely post. It came while I was discussing endangered and threatened species.

 

Good luck on the bar exam. -- Larry

Larry,

 

They really are, although the Pink Lady's Slippers look a little obscene. The stands at DeSoto State Park were of significant size, and well hidden from view. A significant amount of tilted-terrain walking was needed to get to them. I also accidentally found one blooming at Little River Canyon nearby, so while they don't extend far into Alabama, the population here is at least a few miles long.

 

Unlike when I saw Yellow Lady's Slippers in Sipsey, there were no signs of poaching here, and the population was large and strong. Probably because it is close to the road and the naturalist visits the area often, so any "evildoers" lack sufficient cover to do their thing.

i'm glad i stopped by this forum. i found a couple of unusual flowers in the woods across the street from work, and had no idea what they were. now i see they're pink lady's slippers -- which people will go out of their way to find and photograph. ah, well, what i like best about the outdoors is finding beautiful and unexpected things. and if they don't move too fast, i'll even try to photograph them...<div></div>

I'm glad the thread helped you out, William.

Hi there I know its a little late but I actually have lady slippers growing in my front yard, not in a garden just where they grew. Don't know what you were looking for but they interest me every spring. Din't know if there was anything that I could do with them. If you have any suggestions I will be more than happy to hear