I was quite surprised to see two of these plants in a narrow strip of woodland right near my house. I am not sure how rare these are on Cape Cod, or anywhere else for that matter, but there were only these two plants and I searched far and wide for signs of other moccasin flowers, as they are sometimes called. This orchid has two fuzzy lightgreen petals with a single stem and flower. The pinkish flower has purple veins across it and some parts that vaguely resemble shoe laces. It’s hard to comprehend that the stem can support such a big bulbous flower, but it must be lighter than it looks.
These orchids are quite interesting plants. Cypripedium acaule has a symbiotic relationship with a soil fungus. The seeds do not have food supplies inside them like most other kinds of seeds, and the fungus breaks open the seeds and passes on nutrients. When the plants grow older and become self sustaining, the relationship is reversed and now the fungus will extract nutrients from the roots of the plant.
Another relationship is just as important: Pink lady’s slippers need bees, and the flower’s color and smell lures the insects deep into the pouch. There is only one way out of the flower, and the bees are guided by hairy obstacles to the exit, but not without passing pollen and the stigma. Pollen from another lady’s slipper is deposited and fresh pollen is adhered to the bee on the way out.
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