#ladyslipper

Table #14 - Gamera and Lilac - I was going to do a children's table with stuff for kids to do. Gamera seemed appropriate for that. Luckily I didn't follow through with the idea because only my niece and older nephew came. So the pencils remain rough on this.

“To the complaint there are no people in these photographs, I respond, there are always two people: the photographer and the viewer.”   ~ Ansel Adams

-Gunn's New Domestic Physician 1863

A wild orchid of the woods (Northern Michigan)

Cypripedium acaule, the pink lady slipper orchid, is native to the eastern United States where it can be found blooming from late spring to summer. Typical of lady slippers and many orchids in general, it uses trickery to achieve pollination. The bright colors and scent lures bees into the slit in the pouch, usually forcing them to exit by going up to the portals next to the pollinia. On this subject the slit is not fully closed which could cause issues with pollination. As is often the case, the reproductive organs exhibit strong fluorescence and the pollinia can be seen as glowing orbs.

They are kind of a rare plant to find, so I was excited to see a bunch of them growing together ❤

(delenatii X emersonii)