Pure White Fairy Slipper!!!!!!!!!

[Call_Me_Bob]

They are! i LOVE them!

[ronaldhanko]

Spring would not be the same without them. We are going next week to a now-closed state park where they have been growing undisturbed for years and where they are everywhere. Hoping to find the white form there also but it is extremely rare.

[Call_Me_Bob]

NICE! i wish i lived out there!

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Originally Posted by Call_Me_Bob

NICE! i wish i lived out there!

You're more likely to see Calypso bulbosa var americana in Pennsylvania.

Calypso is found all over high elevations throughout the northern parts of the United States and certain parts of Canada.

They can be found as far south as the middle of California (honestly, maybe even as far south as in the mid to high elevation mountains here in SoCal), and in parts of Colorado.

Calypso bulbosa is not a highly restricted species in terms of geographical range. It is restricted to specific zones within that geographical range. They are mainly found in cool deciduous, semi-deciduous, or alpine forests. Most of the times, they're found near a lot of redwoods.

They appear in small colonies throughout the localities they grow in.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Calypso bulbosa var occidentalis is the variant found in the western portion of the US/Canada.

Calypso bulbosa var americana is the variant found in the eastern portion of the US/Canada.

[Call_Me_Bob]

wow, really? ill have to get out and look for some! any good ideas where to look?

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Look for redwoods, particularly near running water or where it's fairly moist. They may be up in the mountains in really obscure places.

They're tiny, tiny, tiny. The largest leaf should be around 1 1/4", but they've been known to flower from much smaller plants. This is where the "fairy" part of the name comes from.

Some of them may be dormant already, especially if they were growing in elevations that are a bit lower than the ones that are growing higher up.

They like it cool. Nothing above 85 F.

With these kinds of conditions you may be lucky enough to see a few stragglers before they drop their leaves.

I don't know specific locations, and even if I did, I don't think it'd be wise to disclose that to the public.

[ronaldhanko]

Originally Posted by Call_Me_Bob

NICE! i wish i lived out there!

You could always come and visit. We'd be happy to show you around.

[Bud]

Its a mesmerizing flower...like melting ice in the spring...the form is very unique...like a diaphanous wing of a dragonfly but whiter

[ronaldhanko]

Originally Posted by King_of_orchid_growing:)

Calypso bulbosa is not a highly restricted species in terms of geographical range. It is restricted to specific zones within that geographical range. They are mainly found in cool deciduous, semi-deciduous, or alpine forests. Most of the times, they're found near a lot of redwoods.

The species is world-wide in northern latitudes but variety occidentalis has quite a restricted range - it is found only west of the Rockies and primarily in the Cascades. We find them from sea-level up to very high elevations to about 6,000 feet in the mountains. This white form along with hundreds of the pink form were photographed in Washington Park within sight of the sea. There are no redwoods here and we find them in mossy areas with light cover, often on a fairly bright and open deciduous or semi-deciduous forest floor, always with good drainage, even along the roadsides in Washington Park where the brush and trees come right to edge of the road. Their habitat is so much the same always that after seeing them as long as we have we can almost always predict whether they will be in an area before we see them there.