Pike County Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs
Moccasin Flower
Cypripedium acaule
The Moccasin Flower, more commonly known as the Pink Lady's Slipper is a wild orchid that lives throughout Pike County. It may be found in a variety of habitats but most commonly in uplands deciduous forests.
Moccasin flower plants can be very long lived with individual specimens recorded to over 20 years. However, their lives can easily be shorted by those picking the flower. You see, unlike most plants, if the moccasin flower does not go through its entire flower cycle, the existing plant will die. A person picking a bouquet of moccasin flowers may doom the entire patch.
Moccasin flowers do not transplant well. They maintain a symbiotic relationship with a particular fungus. If you transplant the flower into a similar soil that lacks the fungus, the plant will die. If you feel it is necessary to have moccasin flowers in your garden, buy one of the domesticated varieties created for that purpose.
When moccasin flowers blossom in June, the "moccasin" or "slipper" acts in an interesting manner. Inside these bulbous pedals is an sweet odor that smells like nectar. Bees enter through a slit in the petals only to find that the smell is an illusion. There is no nectar. But once inside, the bee is trapped, the only exit lies in a a narrow tube. As the bee forces its way down the tube, it scrapes off any pollen it is carrying onto the flower's pistol. Just before exiting the tube, the bee runs into the flower's stamens and coats itself with moccasin flower pollen. Tricked repeatedly in this way, the bee will pollinate numerous flowers before leaving the area.
Both white and pink varieties growing together. Very rare white variety of the moccasin flower
