Classic Lady An Orchid Without Pedigree
by Constantine Gregory
Title
Classic Lady An Orchid Without Pedigree
Artist
Constantine Gregory
Medium
Photograph - Photograph
Description
Orchids Without Pedigree
The pink lady's slipper (Cypripedium acaule) was designated the official state wildflower of New Hampshire in 1991. A unique member of the orchid family, this showy flower is native to North America (also known as moccasin flower, or simply lady slipper).
The lady's slipper is protected in some areas - its numbers have been greatly reduced due to loss of habitat (much of the moist, rich soil it prefers has been converted to agriculture). Also, since the lady's slipper is one of the more eye-catching wildflowers of the northeast, transplanting attempts have taken a significant toll on their numbers (transplanting nearly always fails because the lady's slipper has a symbiotic relationship with a certain fungus in the forest).
In order to spread and grow new plants, Pink Lady's Slipper needs help from other organisms. First, when a new seed is ready to grow, it must have a fungus help it. The fungus has not been identified by scientists yet, but we know it is in the Rhizoctonia Genus. The lady's slipper seed does not have a food supply inside it, like most seeds do. It needs the threads of the fungus to break open the seed and attach themselves to it. The fungus will pass on food and nutrients to the Pink Lady's Slipper seed.
The seed will grow very slowly into a new plant. Without the fungus helping it, the plant could not grow. The plant will return the favor to the fungus when it is older. The fungus can soak up nutrients from the lady's slipper that it could not get by itself. Pink Lady's Slippers can live to be twenty years old or more.
This wildflower also needs help from bees. Its closed flower means that only a strong insect, like a bumble bee can push its way inside. The flower smells sweet, so the bee is tricked into thinking it holds nectar. When the bee gets inside it not only finds no nectar, but it realizes it is trapped. It cannot get back out the way it got in. The bumble bee explores and find a new way to squeeze out of the flower. To do so, it must push past a part of the flower called a stamen. The bee gets out, but it also gets covered with pollen that was on the stamen.
If the bumble bee gets tricked again by another Pink Lady's Slipper, it will deliver pollen from the first flower, and get covered with pollen again by the new flower. The bee may do this several times before it figures out to avoid Pink Lady's Slipper. The bumble bee gets nothing out of the relationship. Without the bee's help, the plant could not make new seeds
The genus name Cypripedium is derived from the Greek words "Cypris" an early reference in Greek myth to Aphrodite, and “pedilon” for sandal. This is because the fused petals that form the orchid’s pouch or modified lip (labellum) resemble a slipper or shoe.
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June 4th, 2014
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