Wallydraigle
Banned
Galearis spectabilis, as far as I know, is the first orchid to bloom where I live. It's generic name comes from the Greek word 'galea', meaning helmet, refering to the lavender hood formed by the three fused sepals. Two petals are slightly darker and are tucked up inside the hood. The third petal (labellum) is long and white. Galearis spectabilis used to be placed in the genus Orchis. Though the flowers are similar, the rest of the plant is very different. It has two succulent leaves and a fleshy rootstock that is very un-orchislike.
The flowers of Galearis spectabilis have a long spur with nectar in the bottom. Only butterflies and moths have tongues long enough to reach the nectar, although bees are occasionally seen on the flowers. The flowers are more fragrant at night (I would describe the scent as lily-of-the-valley, with a hint of lemon), so moths are probably the usual pollinators.
These are not very common this far north (Ohio). I used to know where there were several patches, but the deer have almost eradicated them from the area. These are from the last patch I know of. Apparently there is a weevil that eats the flowers and seeds as well. I hope I don't lose these ones. They are about two feet from the edge of a deer path.
Aplectrum hymale, the putty root orchid, blooms a little later. These little orchids get their common name from their tuberous roots that contain a glue-like substance that is said to be strong enough to hold a broken plate together. They are also called Adam and Eve orchid because their tuberous roots usually appear in pairs. After blooming in the spring the old tuber makes a new one which will bloom next year. The two stay connected by a thin stolon, the old tuber acting as a reserve for water and nutrients until it finally decays. Once upon a time in the southern United States where the putty root is common, it was held by believers in Voodoo that an amulet made from the roots would ward off all but the strongest black magic.
Putty roots make a single leaf that stays green and photosynthesises all winter long. The survival strategy here is that by storing up food all winter, it won't have to compete with faster growing plants that would shade it in the spring. The leaf emerges in late summer, and then withers away as the flowers are formed in May. The danger is that if there is a heavy snow cover for extended periods it may not get enough food. This happened last year, and as a result no flowers were formed. Out of the two patches of putty root that I know only a single plant bloomed this year.
I found the putty roots when I was a senior in hogh school. I had always been interested in plants and wildlife and whatnot, but in a very casual way. I found them in the early spring, and the spear-shaped leaves lying green on the forest floor caught my attention. I watched them all spring and eventually the spikes started to show. I had been reading about orchids at the time, and as they grew I thought that these little plants looks an awful lot like orchids, but I thought finding orchids in Ohio was impossible. Eventually they bloomed and my thoughts were confirmed, and a whole new world opened to me. I started reading everything I could about native orchids, and it's largely because of the putty roots that I ever got into photography at all. I wanted to capture the beauty of these little marvels that few people ever get to see. When the light hit them I thought that they looked as if they had been carved from a piece of tourmaline by Lilliputian wrights. I'm affraid that I didn't quite capture the effect, you just have to be there.
Here are a few more shots of the putty roots:
Here's a shot from the front. You can see the spotted lip and the column. All orchids have their reproductive structures fused together into an organ called the column. That's one of the characteristics that make a plant an orchid. All orchids also have three sepals, and three petals, one of which is modified into a lip, or labellum. These sepals and petals can be fused together, making it hard to pick them out, but they're there. Here's a closer view of the throat of the flower and the column.
It had been raining and the putty roots got wet.
Here is what the whole plant looks like. That's it. You can see the single leaf withering away. You can also see a lock of hair lying nearby. I scatter my hair around the orchids near my home sometimes to try to keep the deer away. A few years ago this patch of putty roots was growing in the middle of a deer path, and there wasn't much left of them. Transplanting terrestrial orchids often spells their doom, but these were already doomed if I did nothing, so I took a chance and moved them to a safer place nearby. Years later they are finally starting to thrive and bloom again. In fact this is the only plant in bloom I've found this year, and if I hadn't moved them that day you wouldn't be looking at these photos now. I've literally waited for years to take these photos.
This photo came out very nice I think. This is Epidendrum radicans, or Epidendrum ibaguense, whatever the taxonomists feel like calling it this week. Orchid taxonomy can be messy, and names get changed all the time. This is a cultivated plant, hailing from Central America. I'm affraid it wouldn't stand much of a chance outside here in Ohio in the winter.
This is a six-spotted tiger beetle (Cicindela sexguttata) on a cultivated Salvia flower. Here's the same one in some cultivated Lobelia. I kind of cheated on these two. Tiger beetles are normally lightning quick and have excellent vision, making them very hard to get near. This one had gotten wet, and while he was recovering I had some fun with him. Fortune favors the prepared; go me.
These were all done with my EOS D60. The orchids were done with my TS-E 90mm and extension tubes. This is proving to be a very nice lens for flowers as long as they're not too small. The tilt function is really helpful sometimes. The beetle shots were done with my MP-E 65mm macro. All shots were lit with a MT-24EX macro twin flash, and one or two 550EX flashes tripped wirelessly. Everything was handheld. If you need to know more details about a particular shot I can dig out EXIF data.
I had some more I wanted post, but this is already way long, so maybe another time.
Thanks for looking!
The flowers of Galearis spectabilis have a long spur with nectar in the bottom. Only butterflies and moths have tongues long enough to reach the nectar, although bees are occasionally seen on the flowers. The flowers are more fragrant at night (I would describe the scent as lily-of-the-valley, with a hint of lemon), so moths are probably the usual pollinators.
These are not very common this far north (Ohio). I used to know where there were several patches, but the deer have almost eradicated them from the area. These are from the last patch I know of. Apparently there is a weevil that eats the flowers and seeds as well. I hope I don't lose these ones. They are about two feet from the edge of a deer path.
Aplectrum hymale, the putty root orchid, blooms a little later. These little orchids get their common name from their tuberous roots that contain a glue-like substance that is said to be strong enough to hold a broken plate together. They are also called Adam and Eve orchid because their tuberous roots usually appear in pairs. After blooming in the spring the old tuber makes a new one which will bloom next year. The two stay connected by a thin stolon, the old tuber acting as a reserve for water and nutrients until it finally decays. Once upon a time in the southern United States where the putty root is common, it was held by believers in Voodoo that an amulet made from the roots would ward off all but the strongest black magic.
Putty roots make a single leaf that stays green and photosynthesises all winter long. The survival strategy here is that by storing up food all winter, it won't have to compete with faster growing plants that would shade it in the spring. The leaf emerges in late summer, and then withers away as the flowers are formed in May. The danger is that if there is a heavy snow cover for extended periods it may not get enough food. This happened last year, and as a result no flowers were formed. Out of the two patches of putty root that I know only a single plant bloomed this year.
I found the putty roots when I was a senior in hogh school. I had always been interested in plants and wildlife and whatnot, but in a very casual way. I found them in the early spring, and the spear-shaped leaves lying green on the forest floor caught my attention. I watched them all spring and eventually the spikes started to show. I had been reading about orchids at the time, and as they grew I thought that these little plants looks an awful lot like orchids, but I thought finding orchids in Ohio was impossible. Eventually they bloomed and my thoughts were confirmed, and a whole new world opened to me. I started reading everything I could about native orchids, and it's largely because of the putty roots that I ever got into photography at all. I wanted to capture the beauty of these little marvels that few people ever get to see. When the light hit them I thought that they looked as if they had been carved from a piece of tourmaline by Lilliputian wrights. I'm affraid that I didn't quite capture the effect, you just have to be there.
Here are a few more shots of the putty roots:
Here's a shot from the front. You can see the spotted lip and the column. All orchids have their reproductive structures fused together into an organ called the column. That's one of the characteristics that make a plant an orchid. All orchids also have three sepals, and three petals, one of which is modified into a lip, or labellum. These sepals and petals can be fused together, making it hard to pick them out, but they're there. Here's a closer view of the throat of the flower and the column.
It had been raining and the putty roots got wet.
Here is what the whole plant looks like. That's it. You can see the single leaf withering away. You can also see a lock of hair lying nearby. I scatter my hair around the orchids near my home sometimes to try to keep the deer away. A few years ago this patch of putty roots was growing in the middle of a deer path, and there wasn't much left of them. Transplanting terrestrial orchids often spells their doom, but these were already doomed if I did nothing, so I took a chance and moved them to a safer place nearby. Years later they are finally starting to thrive and bloom again. In fact this is the only plant in bloom I've found this year, and if I hadn't moved them that day you wouldn't be looking at these photos now. I've literally waited for years to take these photos.
This photo came out very nice I think. This is Epidendrum radicans, or Epidendrum ibaguense, whatever the taxonomists feel like calling it this week. Orchid taxonomy can be messy, and names get changed all the time. This is a cultivated plant, hailing from Central America. I'm affraid it wouldn't stand much of a chance outside here in Ohio in the winter.
This is a six-spotted tiger beetle (Cicindela sexguttata) on a cultivated Salvia flower. Here's the same one in some cultivated Lobelia. I kind of cheated on these two. Tiger beetles are normally lightning quick and have excellent vision, making them very hard to get near. This one had gotten wet, and while he was recovering I had some fun with him. Fortune favors the prepared; go me.
These were all done with my EOS D60. The orchids were done with my TS-E 90mm and extension tubes. This is proving to be a very nice lens for flowers as long as they're not too small. The tilt function is really helpful sometimes. The beetle shots were done with my MP-E 65mm macro. All shots were lit with a MT-24EX macro twin flash, and one or two 550EX flashes tripped wirelessly. Everything was handheld. If you need to know more details about a particular shot I can dig out EXIF data.
I had some more I wanted post, but this is already way long, so maybe another time.
Thanks for looking!
