Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Orchidaceae

Taken along Many Springs Trail, Bow Valley Provincial Park on June 24th. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cypripedium

This Dendrobium Orchid flower was growing on a stem that had a number of flowers growing closely together. I had been waiting for a day with sunshine, so that there was enough light to take photos in my kitchen. What often tends to happen is that as soon as I buy a bunch of flowers, we get a string of gloomy, overcast days - by the time I can take photos, the flowers are way past their prime. For some strange reason, I just couldn't get a decent shot of this flower, but decided I would post the best I could find : ) "Dendrobium is a huge genus of orchids. It was established by Olof Swartz in 1799 and today contains about 1,200 species. The genus occurs in diverse habitats throughout much of south, east and southeast Asia, including the Philippines, Borneo, Australia, New Guinea, Solomon Islands and New Zealand. The name is from the Greek dendron ("tree") and bios ("life"); it means "one who lives on trees", or, essentially, "epiphyte"." From Wikipedia.

Photographed at The Nature Conservancy, near Rimbey, Alberta, on June 26th, when we were on a botanizing trip to Spirit Rocks Sanctuary. This is a forest north of the city, that is under The Nature Conservancy of Canada and belongs to Joanne Susut. Joanne inherited this land, which she has named Spirit Rocks Sanctuary, from her parents and has donated it to the Nature Conservancy of Canada. It was about two and a half hours' drive north of Calgary, to near Rimbey. The day started off with rain and ended with rain, but luckily not a drop fell while we were walking. I don't have the exact location to add to my map, so have just marked Rimbey, Alberta. There are two varieties of this orchid: Small Yellow Lady's Slipper (Cypripedium parviflorum) and Large Yellow Lady's Slipper (Cypripedium pubescens var. pubescens). When you find this orchid, do not disturb it. Do not transplant it - it will likely not survive. It is a wildflower and should stay where it is, also for other people to enjoy. I think I'm correct in saying that my photo shows the Small Lady's-slipper. Thanks Papa Ellis for the confirmation!

Supermacro shot of a teeny Early Coralroot flower. This is an easily-overlooked wild Orchid, but what a glorious surprise to those who take a close look at an individual flower. Barely visible without a hand lens or camera, but so pretty when seen as a macro shot. Photographed in Weaselhead on June 14th. Posting really early this morning as, all being well, I will be out on a very long day trip way south of the city, to explore the flora and fauna of Plateau Mountain. Later: had a lovely day examining the flora and fauna of Plateau Mountain, though an 11-hour day is a long day, even more so as I have such poor endurance these days! It's about a two and a half hour drive there (I didn't drive, but many thanks, Arnold!). These long, warm days of fresh air and exercise totally knock me out, lol! Those who knew Jim Dubois (Garnite), personally or through Flickr, are hoping to raise enough money to pay for a memorial bench in the Campbell River area, B.C.. This would be a perfect tribute to this kind, humorous, good man, who did so much towards educating about and protecting the environment. www.flickr.com/groups/1655195@N20/discuss/72157627099416364/

I took this photo of a very small Calypso Orchid about a year ago, at Maclean Pond, Kananaskis. Haven't been getting very good photos of them so far this spring/summer, so thought I'd post this one that is a little better. Summer??? Today, we have had snow, rain and hail - oh, and a brief period when the sun actually came out, LOL.

This is one of our small, wild Orchids, Striped Coralroot. It is a native plant and grows in open woods. Grows 15-40 cm tall, June-July. Always a good feeling when we come across a few clumps of this attractive plant.

This is just a single tiny flower of the flower cluster of the wild Round-leaved Orchid. There are several (2-8) of these small flowers along a main stem. This plant grows in mossy areas of moist coniferous forests. It looks rather like a little angel with wings and a polk-dot gown. Very delicate little flowers, each one 12-15 mm long.

This is a very pretty, wild Orchid, called Hooded Ladies'-tresses. The tiny flowers grow in a spiral and look like a braid, hence the common name of Ladies'-tresses. This generally uncommon, native wildflower grows in wet woods, wet meadows and bogs. This plant was growing fairly near the edge of the Elbow River in the Weaselhead natural area.

This tiny, wild Orchid surprised me when I cropped my photo and enlarged it. I had never seen the tiny spots on a white flower before. The average person would never notice the plant, but what beauty is seen if one is able to see an individual flower up close.

My descriptions for these four photos have disappeared for some strange reason, so will write them again. Yesterday, five of us squeezed into one car and went to Brown-Lowery Provincial Park for the afternoon. Our weather included torrential rain, thunder, lightning, hail and even a bit of snow in some areas, LOL!! We brave souls still had such a great walk through the dense forest there, and I was thrilled to see my very first wild Calypso Orchid! The light was atrocious deep within the woods, so I ended up deleting most of my 93 photos : ). Will post this really bad image, and hopefully I will sometime get the chance to go back there when the sun is shining. These small Orchids are very dainty and fragile and such a pretty colour. We were lucky enough to see a Three-toed Woodpecker there and also a Varied Thrush (which I saw more as a dark silhouette moving in the distant trees). I have longed to see a Varied Thrush the last few years, so it was a thrill just knowing that there was one there. Thanks, David, for finding my very first one!