Pink Lady Slipper

 When I was a child we were told that you could not pick this lovely Orchid because it was protected. If caught picking it you would be fined fifty dollars. I don't believe it is protected at this time but picking and or transplanting them still would not be a good idea. It seems they are rather tricky to get established. They have a symbiotic relationship with a fungus in the soil. The seed of the Pink Lady Slipper does not have its own nutrients to get started in life like most seeds have, they depend on the fungus for food and even the hairy fibers of the fungus help to open the seed case so that the Lady Slipper can sprout. The fungus eventually is paid back when the Lady Slipper dies back and gives its nutrients back to the fungus. If you try to transplant this Orchid you may plant it where this specific fungus does not grow, and so neither will the Orchid. Something else that I found in researching this lovely is that this flower has no nectar for bees, but it does have fragrance enough to entice the bees to enter the flower by a rather tight slit in the front of the pouch. Once in, the entrance is not an exit, and so the bee has to discover the small exit at the back of the flower. When exiting the flower they pass the pollen laden stamen and if perchance they are tricked into entering another Pink Lady Slipper the cross pollination can occur. Sometimes a spider will sneak in and wait for the unsuspecting insect to bumble in and the circle of life continues.I have read that this Lady Slipper, once established, and conditions being in their favor, can live up to twenty years... another source said one hundred years.....

Where I found it : In the woods