North American Orchids Now in Bloom

Here’s an interesting article about some of the native North American Orchids now in bloom:

Smoky Mountain News – The Naturalists Corner

I was interested in this comment, since I saw so many yellow ladies slippers in bloom last week up on the Bruce Peninsula:

Yellow lady’s-slipper is probably the signature orchid of the Southern Appalachians. The showy, yellow pouch-like or moccasin-shaped flower blooms throughout May at scattered locations in rich woods. There are two varieties of yellow-lady’s slipper in the Southern Appalachian, Cypripedium calceolus and C. calceolus var. pubescens. If the pouch is less than an inch long, the orchid is small yellow lady’s slipper, var. pubescens.