Lady's slipper

Today's the day ......................... to look for the orchids

Somebody told us where we could go to find the rare Lady's slipper orchid (Cypripedium calceolus) quite close to home. We set off this evening to see if we could find it - and much to our delight - we did. Not only that - we found several other species of orchids along with it.

The Lady's slipper orchid was once quite widespread if rather local on the limestone of Westmorland and North Lancashire. Collection by Victorian gardeners led to its extinction in the wild in the region, although a few plants persisted in gardens. By the 1970s, its occurrence in the wild was restricted to just one colony in the Yorkshire Dales.

Since then, there has been a programme of re-introduction back into the area. It has not been entirely straightforward because it needs a particular symbiont fungus to thrive. In the wild, pollination is effected by a small fly, which becomes trapped inside the huge lip. As there are only two ways out for the fly, its hairy back is forced to collect pollen and transfer it to another flower.

It is such an exotic-looking plant - a real treat to find .....................