Moccasin Flower and Gaywings (Fringed Polygala)

5.11.12     I'm wild about finding orchids in the wild - so today's walk was exquisitely satisfying.  The Moccasin Flower or Pink Lady's Slipper is  the showiest of the orchids in Dummerston.  Orchids are really specific about growing conditions; their spaghetti-like roots lack root hairs, so they are completely dependent on the presence of a mycorrhizal soil fungus which allows them to absorb soil nutrients.   Pollinated by bees, only a few of their powdery seeds find the necessary soil requirements for them to germinate.  Then it takes at least two years before they flower.  Transplanting or disturbing them usually is disastrous. 

         We also found Fringed Polygala aka Gaywings (Polygala paucifolia) in bloom today.  These bright pink/purple little flowers sport two petals, the "wings" at the sides of the fringed tube that contains the reproductive parts of the flower.  Members of the Milkwort family, they are often are mistaken for orchids.