I just learned that they will be building a road through an area near my house that is home to many wild plants including Ferns, Lady Slippers, Mountain Laurel, etc. I kept promising to go this past year, knowing that the road may be approved some day. Now they have forced the job through the town administration, promising that land in another area will be spared for wildlife. It will cut over a stream, too. I can't see how preserving areas elsewhere will help the wildlife HERE. How can I gather these plants? Is there any way to identify the Lady Slippers this time of year? They are already surveying. I only hope the whole project takes a long time to plan...
Any suggestions?
Julie
Help ID wild flowers in Winter
By ladies slippers I assume you mean either Cypripedium or my favourite Paphiopedilum. Common names mean completely different plants where ever you go in the world. As for the ones of which I spoke, it would be rather difficult to tell in the winter because they lack a pseudobulb. Also the leaves can be four inches and solid green or tessellated and ten inches long. There are both warm and cool slipper orchids and each have different features. American varieties like the genus Phragmipedium can have leaves up to three feet long as in the case of P. caudatum. I wish there was some way I could help but, sadly, I'm in Southern California. I would contact your local botanical garden or Cooperative Extention office and ask for assistance. The Master Gardeners would be able as well. They would know which ones were indigenous to your locale.-bagpypr P.S I'm jealous that you have such wonderful plants growing wild like that. Some of the orchid farms out here charge over $100 for some plants.
This message was edited Dec 1, 2004 9:22 PM
Julie, the lady's slippers here in the mountains cannot be found this time of year, all the foliage is gone. Ferns you should be able to find by dead, brown fronds. Mtn. Laurel does not transplant well but it's worth a shot. Take some of the soil for all you dig, they needthe beneficial bacteria in it.
Julie, there may be trilliums if there are lady slippers. Those might still have a few leaves.
Thanks for all the input - I am going to walk through the site & see of I can identify anthing. I wish they would wait until next Spring, but I don't think that will happen. The Lady Slippers were pink, about a foot in height. I had hoped they were not dormant. I am not going to fret too much about the legalities of my actions... these precious plants will be plowed over anyhow. I just saw one in a catalog for $79! I don't care about their market value - I just cannot stand the idea of them being destroyed like the ones we used to have in the surrounding woods! I hope to find a few Princess Pines, too. (I don't know if that is the true name) All of these native plants are gone from the woods & fields... perhaps I can save a couple.
Julie, if there are any yellow ladies slippers, the dead foliage may still be standing. Mine is, anyway. Wish I could come help you save them. What a dreadful shame that they would put the road through a rare plant wilderness. Can you contact the New England Wildflower society for help?
Susan
There have been times I managed to talk contractors into letting me and a group of others rescue plants that were in the right-of-way. Their biggest concern is that some one would get injured and the liabilities would be bigger than it would be worth. It never hurts to ask and if you do it only when the work is not being done it might help. Good luck. Jessamine
I will be wandering around collecting whatever I see before they begin with any machinery... I just don't see it as being the same when they reserve another area for open land so they can use this area. The land put aside somewhere else is usually under water or otherwise not suitable for building. Thank you for the hopeful words - perhaps I can find some of the lady slippers after all!
Julie,
Contact Wild Ones ...www.for-wild.org I believe, to see if they can help you in a plant rescue. There probably is a chapter in your area. Also, if any of the plants you mentioned are considered endangered in your state...they may not just be able to proceed. Contact your DNR. You will find the ferns by their fronds. But Lady's Slippers usually die back to the ground after they bloom. April
Seems I read somewhere you can stop them until some expert come to check for endangered species.Now I have to find out where I read it.They can stop them through the courts.Jody
Julie,
Also, some of the plants you named are federally and probably locally endangered, and they just can't go building a road over them. Well, they can. They can also get fined real heavy. Are they going to start construction now? Or will they wait until spring? If they are made to wait, then wild-ones can assist you with a plant rescue....ladie's slippers are very hard to find when they're dormant. April
I saw where they are goping to go through the wooded area, & they are trying to get approved. Soemthing about a natural aquafor, but there are buildings & roads much closer to the aquafor than this road will be. The area I want to check out is right along a small stream - I know there were all sorts of wildflowers there years ago, & don't see any reason why they would not be there now. There are a lot of people against this road, but no land is left undeveloped for the sake of wildlife or nature conservation in this area. The land is just too valuable. They say they set aside some acreage somewhere ELSE to make up for the wildlife/land that they ruin. I don't see how that can make up for the nature they destroy permanently with this road, but few people care. I will go in before they plow, hoping to find some native plants. No one will care if I do it or not. I just have to go when it doesn't disturb the workers. Not right, is it?
Makes me ill,I'm proud of you, get in and save what ever you can.You Go Girl
Jody
JRush,
Oh please do call the Army Corp of Engineers, and the EPA....they play hard ball with wetlands. In my area, you cannot make ANY changes to an aquifer or wetland without lengthy and involved environmental assesments. You have plants that are listed as federally endangered..and they cannot just go building a road or what-ever through them. April
It is too late for any thing to be done. They had been fighting about the whole thing for years, but somehow it got approved without the public's knowledge. They do this type of all of the time to get their way. It is not the first time. It is really a shame - this town has lost so much open land & woods. I just want to grab some ferns, 'magic flowers' & whatever I can identify. I have a small area that mimics the damp fields, so I can keep them alive. I really want to save some Lady Slippers, but they aren't up yet. I saw tire tracks going through the wet field today. We are thought of as "bleeding hearts" & seen as getting in the way of progress. I will do what I can, but it isn't nearly enough! A couple pails of plants does not justify acres of marshes & woods.
Oh, Julie - shall we go on another adventure? Good thing I still have my buckets!!!
I have an email in to a native plant & wildflower group in CT to ask about what to look for this time of year... perhaps they can guide me to identify precious plants to save. Even if they don't, I will certainly dig up some ferns & such, & get plenty of extras for everyone who would like some too. Sequee- we can fill your car with something nicer than llama dung this time!
Ah, yes the llama dung which is now burried under 8" of snow - AGAIN! Wasn't it beautiful this morning? I love it when it's so white and pure and the evergreens look so majestic against the stark white. I didn't even mind shoveling - no ice, just fluffy snow. I just feel bad for all those li'l bulbs that was stickin' their noses out last week! Egad, down, down! LOL! PekeBoo and I are looking forward to seeing you soon...