Every spring, I search our woods for one particular species of flower: the pink lady’s slipper (Cypripedium acaule), a native orchid found in eastern North America from Maine to Georgia and as far west as Wisconsin. This lovely woodland dweller is one of 12 species of wild orchid found in the United States, but not in our woods.
The most commonly found lady slipper species in the eastern United States, Cypripedium acaule blooms between April and June. Also known by the less romantic name of moccasin flower, each light to rose-pink or pink-veined white flower sits atop a 12 to 18-inch stalk flanked at ground level by two opposite, dark green basal leaves with prominent veins. The large, showy, slipper-shaped flower is a pouch or sac, consisting of two petals that are fused except for a tiny opening in front, and two slender, reddish-brown or green petals that spread outward from the slipper. A single green sepal curves gracefully over the flower.
Pink lady’s slipper grows in mixed pine ...