Wild Orchids in New Mexico

[dabblin-n-orchids]

I disappeared of the face of the earth for two and a half months and thus haven't posted in a while. I just spent that time hiking through the mountains of north eastern New Mexico (the Sangre de Christo range if any one was interested) but now on to the orchids.
I found two species of Corallorhiza, a genus of terrestrial saprophytic orchids (i think saprophytes are SO COOL). these little beauties have approximately 1/4 in. blooms. the first 2 pics are C. maculata or spotted coral-root and the second 2 are C. striata or striped coral-root.
then one day i stumbled upon a lone Cypripedium pubescens sadly the bloom was starting to fade but it is still a lovely flower.

ps this is the first time i've posted pics so if i messed it up or they don't appear i'm sorry.

[Carl Austin]

Nice. Nothing beats finding them growing wild.

Carl

[RosieC]

I love seeing them wild. I love that third closeup pic

[trdyl]

Thanks for sharing.

[orchidbingo]

Thanks for sharing these. I haven't had a chance to see orchids in the wild since I moved from the tropical rain forests of the Philippines.

bingo

[tuvoc]

Outstanding shots!

Kim

[dgenovese1]

Hey Michael,
Thanks for sharing your hiking discoveries with us.

I don't get a chance to hike in the mountains anymore...like I did in PA and western MD, so it's exciting for me to see these wild beauties.

Thanks again!