Lady's-Slippers
are Afoot in Venango and Fayette Counties
These
wildflowers depend on the gullibility of insects for pollination. Although
no nectar is contained in the slipper-like
pouch formed by the lower petal, bees are attracted by a nectar-like scent
from within. Once inside, the unsatisfied insect can escape only by squeezing
through one of the two small channels at the rear of the pouch, where
its back is coated with pollen. Undaunted, it proceeds to another blossom
and repeats the process, still getting no nectar but leaving some
pollen.
This photo of a moccasin-flower (Cypripedium acaule, also known as pink lady's-slipper or stemless lady-slipper) was taken at Two Mile Run County Park, Venango County by WPC member John M. Karian. It can also be seen at WPC's Bear Run Nature Reserve in Fayette County. The flowers of moccasin-flower are typically a deeper, more purplish pink, but they can vary all the way to pure white. Pennsylvania once had five species of lady's-slippers (if you count the yellow lady's-slippers as two species rather than two varieties of one species), but unfortunately the white lady's slipper (Cypripedium candidum) has probably been extirpated from the state. The white lady's-slipper is distinguished from the white form of moccasin-flower by having a leafy stem. The two leaves of moccasin-flower arise at the base of the plant.
John M. Karian does nature photography in Venango County.
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