Friday, June 30, 2017

Michigan Orchids

June is a great month to find wild orchids in Michigan.  I thought I would share a few that I have seen this month.

June 6, 2017 - I saw  Ram's Head Lady's Slipper Orchid (Cypripedium arietinum).  This was the first time I got to see this orchid, and it was beautiful.  They are very small, these were about 6 inches tall with the flower itself slightly less than an inch.




The next orchid here is called Tuberous Grass Pink (Calopogon tuberosus). This orchid is also quite small, these were around 5 to 6 inches tall, with the flower being only
1 1/2 inch in size.  I saw the Grass Pink on June 26 this year.


June 27 2017 Betsy and I went to see the Rose Pogonia orchid  (Pogonia ophioglossoides) and this time I remembered a quarter for size comparison.  A quarter is almost an inch across, ~ 11/12 of an inch.  As you can see this is another small orchid.  Around 5 inches tall, with the flower about one inch in size.


This last orchid is commonly called Showy Lady's Slipper Orchid  (Cypripedium reginae) and it is a bit larger than the other Lady's Slippers.  In the photo below, the orchid was about 28 inches tall and the inflated pouch was nearly two inches in size.  This group was under the cover of trees and were in great condition.  The Showy Lady's Slipper in the bottom photo was out in the open and was starting to turn brown on its petals.  I saw these on June 26 and some were passed their prime.  Still beautiful.


So I'm jumping ahead with this blog but wanted to share this while it is still June. 

And the reason I plaster my name on the images is because once an image is uploaded to the internet (even if you try to protect it) it is out there worldwide forever.  I see my images all the time on different sites, usually giving credit to the Plants Amaze Me blog.  That's not the issue.

But I have also discovered that some one in Asia copied and pasted all my posts making it their blog.  Many other sites are trying to sell the images. 

But I'm sharing these any way.  Some people are not able to get out and see these plants so that is why I continue to blog.