NORTHWEST COAST NATURE

Fairy Slipper Orchids

AS SPRING ON THE COAST kicks in, the nature around us is displaying in all its glory. The shades of green are vibrant and enticing, inviting us to explore trails full of wildflowers and grounding us in the seasonal appreciation of where we live. Early spring wildflowers such as small-flowered blue eyed mary, flowering red currant, few-flowered shooting star, trilliums and fawn lilies are abundant in lovely trails like Campbell River’s Canyon View Trail and Elk Falls Provincial Park. Taking a leisurely stroll or a more vigorous hike at this time of the year is a great way to learn about our native flora and fauna!

One of my favorite species of spring wildflowers belongs in the family Orchidaceae or the Orchid family. The ever stunning Fairy Slipper Orchid, Calypso bulbosa, flowering in late April through early May, never fails to impress, as it is one of our showiest native orchid species. The sepals and petals that are pink to purple pink shades of magenta, with a white to pink labellum with white or yellow spotting. It grows from 5 to 20 cm tall, with a single lightly egg shaped leaf growing out of a small corm. As is typical to all orchids, the seeds of this species do not contain the food reserves needed to nourish the embryo.

Orchid seeds are extremely small, and need to be colonized by mycorrhizal fungi in a symbiotic relationship in order to be able to gain the nutrients to form a seedling. Because of this, our native orchids are very hard to propagate or transplant into a garden setting. Poaching plants from the wild is extremely discouraged as having the correct species of mycorrhizal fungi present is difficult, as orchids are particular with their mycorrhizal symbiont of choice. Most of the time, transplanting wild orchids results in the death of the plant because a lack of adequate conditions for growth cannot be managed.

While Fairy Slipper Orchids grow in many countries around the world, including the US and Canada, they are rare to uncommon in most places they occur be cause they are extremely sensitive to disturbance. These orchids may appear around swampy damp ar eas in many countries but here in British Columbia, they are commonly seen on the mossy floor of mature to old forests. Their rarity is an example of another species that is heavily impacted by logging, develop ment and trampling by the recreational activities of humans.

The orchid plant family is extremely diverse with an estimated 28,000 species, and evolutionarily speaking has developed some incredible ways to be pollinated. The lip of fairy slippers, a highly modified petal, is shaped like a slipper with little hairs at the entrance and nectary-like structures at the back of the pouch, which appears to offer nectar in trade for a job well done. However, pollination by deception is what this species actually offers, tricking newly emerged queen bumblebees into thinking there is nectar to be found but there is none to be had at all. This type of pollina tion is a big risk to take for a plant as the insect polli nating it learns quickly that this species does not offer the nectar trade off but the plant gets to save resources that may be otherwise used to make nectar.

These types of ecological relationships can only continue to flourish if we take care of the habitats that we live and play in. The biodiversity of native flora and fauna in any area is very important—when we dismiss these interactions, we risk losing this information be fore we even know it exists. Doing what we can to restore disturbed and developed areas, by replenishing the soil and planting native plants, is a small but manageable step in the right direction.