I do a lot of nature hiking and have
seen a lot of wild flowers even a few wild orchids before, but
this was the first time for me to ever see this orchid . I think
I now have a better understanding of how rare these plants are
in the wild. The conditions needed are very exacting, and I am
afraid that there are so few places left for the orchids to make
a home in. I am glad that people are starting to take steps to
insure there survival. I would love to see some of the tropical
orchids in there wild habitat sometime. I am sure it would prove
to be a very rewarding experience. As it
is I will take the memories of this experience and treasure them
for a long time to come. The forest preserve was very untouched,
it felt different from other parks as soon as I entered, very
lush, the ground is a thick layer of humus on top of a layer
of decomposing limestone, fed by underground springs. There are
lots of ferns and mosses, as well as other moisture loving plants,
so I would think that the area is plenty well moist through the
year, the trees grow thick and very little sunlight reaches the
floor through the trees, everything smelled very fresh. I wish
you could have shared in the experience with me.
When I first saw the orchids I couldn't believe what I was seeing,
there in this damp dark north facing slope in the deep shade
of trees , dancing in the dappled green hushed light of a spring
morning , were these large yellow balloon pouched cypripediums,
with long twisting burgundy hugged petals, and tall sepals, growing
in clumps, little colonies. and a few by themselves. There is
only about a 2 acre area that the orchids live in. I think we
saw about 45-50 flowered in this small area though. A very healthy
collection of wild orchids .
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