A very public stand of the reclusive pink ladyslipper orchid (Cypripedium acaule) began blooming in early May along a fire lane only feet away from the main road running through West Virginia’s Coopers Rock State Park.
The pink ladyslipper, with the historic nickname moccasin flower given for its resemblance to an indian moccasin, colonizes Coopers Rock because of the plant’s preference for high altitude. The orchid’s habitat there exceeds 2,000 feet in elevation.
Category: The Ridgeline
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Hey, there was or may still be a large population of Cyp. acaule in Gambrill State Park, MD, just west of Frederick – I saw them, to my amazement, on June 10, 1972. I credit them with starting my interest in orchids.
It wouldn’t surprise me. They like it up there in the high oak woods. I saw a number of them this spring in the Frederick Watershed.