Fairy Slipper

This is the earliest of our native orchids and one of the most beautiful. It is small, only 4-6 inches tall, but always noticeable on account of its bright colors.

The species ranges across northern Europe and Asia into Japan and across Canada and the United States, but this variety is unique to the Pacific Northwest.

The picture is of variety occidentalis, found only west of the Rockies and in the North Cascades and is easily distinguished by the lack of yellow in the lip.

We went to see this last Saturday in Washington Park on Fidalgo Island near Anacortes where it and a number of other wildflowers were blooming.

It grows under the forest canopy in flat, open areas and especially where there is a thick bed of moss and along the roadsides in the light shade of the undergrowth.

The botanical name for this species is Calypso bulbosa, Calypso being a nymph from Greek mythology who kept Odysseus captive.

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