By: CHARLES SEABROOK
It's a wonderful surprise to come across a colony of lady-slipper blooming in the woods on a spring day. The lady-slipper is a type of orchid, and many people seeing their pouchlike blooms for the first time are amazed that such delicate, remarkable flowers grow in the wild in Georgia.
The state's best-known species are the yellow lady-slipper and the pink lady-slipper, also known as moccasin flower.
Now we have another wild lady-slipper to dote on. In Middle Georgia's Laurens County, botanists have found the state's first known colony of Kentucky lady-slipper, which sports a large ivory-colored flower.
"At first we thought it was a type of yellow lady-slipper, but with its ivory flowers, we realized that it could be none other than the Kentucky lady-slipper," said Tom Patrick, a botanist with the state Department of Natural Resources. Adding to their surprise was the fact that Laurens County, where Dublin is located, is thought to be far away from the usual haunts of lady-slipper, which grows mostly in North Georgia.
Obviously, the fact that the Kentucky lady-slipper long escaped detection in Georgia means that it is probably rare. However, the discovery does establish an extension of the fragile flower's range, and suggests that additional populations may be located elsewhere in the state.
Meanwhile, Patrick and botanists with the Atlanta Botanical Garden are trying to propagate the species. Last spring and again this year, they hand-pollinated the handful of Kentucky lady-slippers to make sure they bear seeds in the fall. Using tissue culture techniques, the botanists are using the few seeds collected so far to generate hundreds of seedlings, which will be planted in the wild to establish several small populations of the flower.
It's a wonderful surprise to come across a colony of lady-slipper blooming in the woods on a spring day. The lady-slipper is a type of orchid, and many people seeing their pouchlike blooms for the first time are amazed that such delicate, remarkable flowers grow in the wild in Georgia.
The state's best-known species are the yellow lady-slipper and the pink lady-slipper, also known as moccasin flower.
Now we have another wild lady-slipper to dote on. In Middle Georgia's Laurens County, botanists have found the state's first known colony of Kentucky lady-slipper, which sports a large ivory-colored flower.
"At first we thought it was a type of yellow lady-slipper, but with its ivory flowers, we realized that it could be none other than the Kentucky lady-slipper," said Tom Patrick, a botanist with the state Department of Natural Resources. Adding to their surprise was the fact that Laurens County, where Dublin is located, is thought to be far away from the usual haunts of lady-slipper, which grows mostly in North Georgia.
Obviously, the fact that the Kentucky lady-slipper long escaped detection in Georgia means that it is probably rare. However, the discovery does establish an extension of the fragile flower's range, and suggests that additional populations may be located elsewhere in the state.
Meanwhile, Patrick and botanists with the Atlanta Botanical Garden are trying to propagate the species. Last spring and again this year, they hand-pollinated the handful of Kentucky lady-slippers to make sure they bear seeds in the fall. Using tissue culture techniques, the botanists are using the few seeds collected so far to generate hundreds of seedlings, which will be planted in the wild to establish several small populations of the flower.
Comments