A few more orchids, Bruce Peninsula style

The counties of Grey and Bruce are the hotspot for native orchids in Ontario, with at least 46 species known. Orchid enthusiasts from far and wide visit the Bruce Peninsula every year to search them out.  For a few years way back when, it used to be almost an annual event for me. Of the 46 species in this area, I have been fortunate to have seen and photographed about 40 of them. Some of them were photographed elsewhere, and for some which I was fortunate to find, I had considerable help from other orchid enthusiasts. More than one species was a long way from the car, and it was only with excellent directions that I was able to find them. In spite of the long trek and uncertainty, it was gratifying to be able to find these beauties.

I had intended to do it again in 2014, but just didn't find the time. However I did go a couple of years ago and even in a whirlwind trip, it proved to be fun and satisfying. Most of the following photos are from that trip.

One of the most widespread and easily seen orchids is the Large Yellow Lady's-slipper (Cypripedium calceolus var pubescens). This one is supporting another species of wildlife, waiting to catch an unwary insect that might be approaching to pollinate it. Can you see it?

Cypripedium calceolus var pubescens

Another lady's-slipper that is widespread and on average, much larger, is the aptly named Showy Lady's-slipper (Cypripedium reginae). It grows in clumps along damp roadsides adjacent to White Cedar thickets.

Sometimes the slipper is a deep pink colour.

Cypripedium reginae

On extremely rare occasions, and something I have only seen once, one may encounter a Showy Lady's-slipper that is completely white, and is sometimes referred to as a Snowy Showy. A beautiful clump of these used to occur a bit east of Wiarton. This photo was taken quite a few years ago, on film, and so has been scanned here. The population has since disappeared, a result of residential development.

Fens (a type of wetland) along the west side of the Bruce Peninsula are wonderful places for orchids and other neat plants. I showed a Grass Pink (Calopogon pulchellus) on the previous post, but it is such a beautiful orchid that it deserves a repeat showing here.

Calopogon pulchellus

This species has an interesting pollinating process. When a large insect lands on the upper part of the petal which has the pollen grains, the petal is 'hinged' slightly so that it along with the insect flops down onto the pistil below, thus making sure of the transfer of pollen as the insect visits flower after flower.

Another one in these fens is the Rose Pogonia (Pogonia ophioglossoides), about the same size as the Grass Pink, but with a decidedly different appearance.

Pogonia ophioglossoides

One of the rarer orchids of the Bruce Peninsula is also one of the smallest, known as the Green Adder's Mouth (Malaxis unifolia). It inhabits the edges of small acidic 'lakes', usually at the edge of a white cedar thicket. I had seen this orchid on one occasion more than 20 years earlier, and I wasn't sure I could even find the right lake let alone the orchid, given some changes to the road network. But I persisted, and there right at the edge of the small lake underneath some more dominant vegetation (compared to this orchid, all other vegetation is dominant), were a few that were just beginning to flower. This orchid is a classic example of one that is not showy at all; in fact the only colours are a green and a translucent green! Add to the fact that it is only a few centimetres high, has a single leaf that is at the most 3 cm wide and no wonder it is rarely found. Even when in full flower, it is only about the diameter of your finger! The petals are 'up to' 3 mm in length.....this is definitely macro material! The view of it on your screen is several times life size!

Malaxis unifolia

Close-up of a close-up!

They were even smaller than I remembered them, and there was no way to use a tripod in the wet, hummocky surroundings, so I had to carefully bend over and hand-hold the camera, macro lens (using an extension tube, of course!) and flash, attempting to balance myself without tumbling over. With the macro setup on a full frame camera, it worked out alright, but even then I had to crop the photo a fair bit.

One that is distinctly more showy than the previous one, is next: the Tall White Bog Orchid (Platanthera dilatata), a.k.a. Bog Candles or Fragrant Orchid. I like the last name especially as it is quite fragrant. I find that it smells somewhat like spicy cinnamon.

Platanthera dilatata

I will have to dig through my slides and scan some of the other orchids from my Bruce Peninsula travels....some with exotic sounding names like Arethusa and Calypso the latter of which is magical to find, and others with descriptive names such as Striped Coralroot.

Early season native orchids

The topic of orchid flowers conjures up thoughts of exotic flowers from the tropics, and the ones sometimes used as a corsage on special occasions. But not too many people think about some of the plant species which naturally occur in Ontario as being orchids. The fact is, there are approximately 60 species of orchids that are native to Ontario! And some are quite colourful and exotic looking in their own right. Rondeau Provincial Park can lay claim to 19 species growing within its confines, but the orchid capital of the province are the counties of Bruce and Grey, and especially the Bruce Peninsula, where at least 44 species of orchids are known.

One of the earliest to appear in the southwest is the Showy Orchis, which grows in rich hardwood forests. In spite of its name, it is not that showy unless you get down for a closer look. It seldom gets more than 15 cm (6 ") high, and may be obscured by taller vegetation. At Rondeau, it typically begins to bloom about the third week in May.

Showy Orchis

At about the same time, and in slightly more open woods, may be found the Yellow Lady's-slipper. It occurs as a large form and a small form, which generally occupy different habitats, but there may be some overlap.

Large Yellow Lady's-slipper

The Small Yellow Lady's-slipper can sometimes be found on some of the better quality native tallgrass prairies. There it can hybridize with an extremely rare native orchid, the Small White-Lady-slipper, especially if the flowering times overlap, which they usually do. The hybrids are even rarer than the Small Whites, and can take on some unusual but attractive colour combinations that draws the attention of serious botanists and photographers.

Small White Lady's-slipper

Small White Lady's-slipper

This species is, as its name implies, small, seldom growing over 20 cm (8") high. It does occur in one or two other places in Ontario, but in somewhat different habitats. The bulk of the Ontario population occurs on the private lands of tallgrass prairie in Lambton County. It is an Endangered Species under the various provincial and federal statutes.

Another type of Lady's-slipper is the Pink Lady's-slipper a.k.a. Moccasin Flower. Depending on the latitude, it may be in flower in May but a little farther north, will still be in flower in early June. It prefers the slightly more acidic sandy soils in sand dune systems which have developed to the point of also growing coniferous trees. It also occurs at the edges of bogs, which are not found in extreme southwestern Ontario.

Moccasin Flower

Moccasin Flower

By early June, another orchid appears in flower....the Puttyroot. This occurs in rich hardwood forests, and is not nearly as colourful as the previously shown ones. But it can grow taller than the others.

Puttyroot in flower

Puttyroot flower close-up

The Puttyroot isn't visible in flower for long. One of the ways to find it, however, is to look for their distinctive leaves during a period of late autumn to early spring when there is no snow cover. It is not a really rare species, but is certainly not common in spite of its relatively widespread range in southern Ontario.

Puttyroot leaves

An uncommon orchid in southwestern Ontario, but more common in the marl wetlands and fens of the Bruce Peninsula is the beautiful Grass Pink. In the southwest it may occur in very small numbers in wet grassy areas including tallgrass prairies.

Grass Pink

Later in June, another rare orchid appears, the Eastern Prairie Fringed Orchid. In spite of its rarity, it grows in a wide variety of habitats, from high quality tallgrass prairie, to the edges of marl lakes, to fens of eastern Ontario and even along wet ditchbanks! Some type of disturbance or environmental condition to keep the vegetation open seems to be the key to survival, so at least in tallgrass prairies, the regular occurrence of fire at the right time of year is a necessity.

Eastern Prairie Fringed Orchid

Eastern Prairie Fringed Orchid

One of the interesting aspects of this latter species is that it is pollinated by night-flying moths, and specifically the Sphinx Moth types. I was monitoring a population of this orchid near the former Windsor Raceway in the 1970s and early 1980s. It eventually died out, and one of the main changes in its environment were the extensive night lights that were along the road and the raceway. Moths don't function normally under well lighted conditions, so it is possible that the population of orchids went unpollinated, stopped producing seed, and the older plants eventually died out. Interestingly since that time, another population appeared a few hundred metres away, in a well shaded environment.


More on orchids in a future post....