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

[ronaldhanko]

Originally Posted by Call_Me_Bob

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

The best way to find them is to join a local native orchid society, ask at national parks (many of the rangers know where to look), or ask around for others in the area who know where to find them.

[ronaldhanko]

Originally Posted by King_of_orchid_growing:)

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.

Our variety is a bit bigger with leaves up to 2" and plants up to about about 8" tall, though many are smaller.

[ronaldhanko]

Originally Posted by 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

I enjoy them all and the color does vary from a very deep pink to a pink so pale it is almost white, but I agree that this pure white form is sheer loveliness.

[greenbean]

Wow! What an amazing find! Thank you for sharing it with us!

Protect that location from unscrupulous individuals. I know you will, I just have to say it. Not that anyone on OB would harm an orchid, but non-members read these too.

And Ron is right. Unless you're in California or the very southwestern tip of Oregon, you won't find Calypso bulbosa growing with redwoods.

[Lagoon]

I couldn't agree more, what a find!!! Aww its really beautiful, doesn't even look real. Ooo love it!!

Congrats Ron!

[ronaldhanko]

Thanks, Even and Gloria, and Evan, we do protect all information about rare plants and give it only to people we trust. In this same park a week ago someone went through the area just below where we found this and picked every single Fairy Slipper they could find. Thankfully they missed this one.

[tcrane]

What a fantastic find! Thank you for sharing it with us, Ron.

-Tristan

[ronaldhanko]

Thanks, Tristan. Appreciate your taking time to look and comment.

[greenbean]

Originally Posted by ronaldhanko

Thanks, Even and Gloria, and Evan, we do protect all information about rare plants and give it only to people we trust. In this same park a week ago someone went through the area just below where we found this and picked every single Fairy Slipper they could find. Thankfully they missed this one.

That's tragic! I'm glad they missed this one.

[ronaldhanko]

Tragic, indeed. They won't set seed then and reproduce much less be there so that others can see them.