Lady Slipper Orchid
by Bruce Bley
Title
Lady Slipper Orchid
Artist
Bruce Bley
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
This photograph of a Lady Slipper Orchid was taken while visiting the Chicago Botanical Gardens Orchid show.
"Paphiopedilum species naturally occur among humus layers as terrestrials on the forest floor, while a few are true epiphytes and some are lithophytes. These sympodial orchids lack pseudobulbs. Instead, they grow robust shoots, each with several leaves; some are hemicryptophytes. The leaves can be short and rounded or long and narrow, and typically have a mottled pattern. When older shoots die, newer ones take over. Each new shoot only blooms once when it is fully grown, producing a raceme between the fleshy, succulent leaves. The roots are thick and fleshy. Potted plants form a tight lump of roots that, when untangled, can be up to 1 m long.
Members of this genus are considered highly collectible by orchid fanciers due to the curious and unusual form of their flowers. Along with Cypripedium, Mexipedium, Phragmipedium and Selenipedium, the genus is a member of the subfamily Cypripedioideae, commonly referred to as the "lady's-slippers" or "slipper orchids" due to the unusual shape of the pouch-like labellum of the flower. The pouch traps insects seeking nectar, and to leave again they have to climb up past the staminode, behind which they collect or deposit pollinia. The orchid, despite several attempts to clone by tissue culture, has never been successfully cloned, for unknown reasons. This means every plant is unique.
I hope you have enjoyed this work and will share it with others. You can see more of my work on my homepage in the various galleries that I have created. Thank you for visiting and please come back as I add to the galleries.
Uploaded
March 8th, 2016
Statistics
Viewed 1,795 Times - Last Visitor from Cambridge, MA on 04/24/2024 at 3:21 PM
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Comments (52)
Bruce Bley
Barbie, I very grateful for the feature in the group "1 Weekly - All Stars". Thank you so much for the honor.
Maria Hunt
Brilliant work, Bruce... You know how to capture her best side!! : ) Congratulations on your feature in 1 Weekly - ALL Stars F/L
Frank J Casella
Bruce -- CONGRATULATIONS!! Your beautiful artwork has been Featured by the - PENTAX RICOH PHOTOGRAPHERS - group on Fine Art America, a PIXELS Company! Thank you for sharing it !!
Bruce Bley replied:
Frank, I am very grateful for the feature in the group "Pentax And Ricoh Photographers". Thank you for the honor.
Michelle Meenawong
wow, such a beauty Bruce v/f and tweet
Bruce Bley replied:
Thank you for the nice compliment and promotions, Michelle. I sincerely appreciate it.
Bruce Bley
David, I am very grateful for the feature in the group "Midwest America Photography". Thank you so much.
Bruce Bley
Marie, Thank you so much for the feature in the group "Must Create Art". I sincerely appreciate the honor.
Bruce Bley
Thank you for the feature in the group "500 Views - 1 Image a Day", Mariola. I sincerely appreciate the honor.