Category Archives: wildflowers

  The striped coralroot is a wild orchid that is both uncommon and widespread. Favouring the deep forest floor that little sunlight reaches, it obtains its energy, not as a result of photosynthesis, but through fungi. Indeed, the plant lacks … Continue reading →

  Each July and August, I keep an eye out for Indian pipe, a flower also known as the ghost plant. Only now and then will I encounter the strange plant that lacks chlorophyll. It has carved out an ecological … Continue reading →

  At this time of year, mountain meadows are awash with wildflowers. Here are four of the myriad species. The pearly everlasting gains its name both from its appearance, and from the ease with which it can be dried for … Continue reading →

  The season of indian pipe is upon us again. That it has appeared this early in the summer may be a result of our recent rain and cloud. Although it looks like a fungus, indian pipe is indeed a … Continue reading →

  This is the third wild orchid found in the last few weeks. The first was the fairy slipper; second was the striped coralroot; this time it is the mountain lady’s slipper. Two mountain lady’s slippers in the forest.  

  The striped coralroot orchid is my second sighting of a wild orchid this year. The first was of the fairy slipper. OK, truth be told, I did not find this orchid on my own: a small child spotted it … Continue reading →

  The fairy slipper is perhaps the first wild orchid to bloom each spring. It seems to have evolved to fool the earliest of pollinators, queen bees, into pollinating it — yet the fairy slipper offers bees no rewards in … Continue reading →