Picture Of The Week (POW) Information & Submissions

[897tgigvib]

These are the Calypso Orchids that grow wild here. The hill behind me has no name, so I call it Orchid Hill. They bloom May and June, Make one, maybe two leaves, and go dormant during summer.

 

[so lucky]

Those are beautiful orchids, Marshall. I was wondering what a Calypso Orchid looked like. How big are the blooms? There are a few wild orchids that grow around in the Missouri Ozarks, but the blooms are small, and the color sometimes makes them easy to overloook.

 

[897tgigvib]

Calypsos are little tykes. The stem goes up 4 to 8 inches, the blooms are almost maybe 2 inches top to bottom, and almost an inch wide. These are shade lovers, and they depend on a relationship with mostly Fir trees and a fungus to supply some nutrients. Most people can't transplant them successfully. I can by making sure to bring a large wad of the forest compost with them that is what their small pseudobulb and single taproot live in. I have 4 year old transplants around my cabin.

 

[Carol Dee]

 

[desertlady]

Marshallsmyth They are pretty! do they grow all over the place or just some spots? Carol Dee: so beautiful pics!

 

[Carol Dee]

Marshallsmyth They are pretty! do they grow all over the place or just some spots? Carol Dee: so beautiful pics!

thanks Desertlady, I am partial to the cutie in the middle

 

[897tgigvib]

Calypso Orchids seem to be wide ranging in the coast range of hills, but in patch areas. One hill to the south has them with slightly lighter colors and larger spots of brownish. They do seem to be slightly variable.

They are becoming more rare but are not yet endangered. They need Fir or Redwood trees to live and prosper because of that 3 part symbiotic relationship.

 

[Kassaundra]

Here are a couple of fall themed pics

 

[catjac1975]

 

[catjac1975]