By Tom Shields Photos by Kevin Tipson and Henry Glowka unless otherwise indicated jewels of the Biosphere res The Niagara Escarpment is justly famous as a uNESCo World Biosphere Reserve, one of Canada’s first. In Southern ontario, its tower - ing dolostone cliffs, formed in ancient seas more than 420 million years ago, rise dramatically along a jagged line that stretches 725 kilo - metres from the Niagara River to the tip of Tobermory. From these heights the Escarpment tilts down gently to the west. Rainfall and ground water seep gradually through its porous rocks, creating swamps, fens, bogs, marshes, valleys, caves, and microcli - mates across the meandering band that follows its length. 28 BRuCE TRAIL MAGAzINE SPRING 201 4 erve d n a l c A e c n e r u a L : o t o h P WWW.BRuCETRAIL.oRG BRuCE TRAIL MAGAzINE 29 Nowhere are these features more promi - LADY’S SLIPPERS (CYPRIPEDIUM) nent than in the Bruce Peninsula, Easiest to find and most familiar of our enrobed on either side by Georgian Bay distinguishing orchids orchids are the lady’s slippers, so named and Lake Huron. Here, jewel-like mem - All orchids have a highly modified, due to the fancied resemblance of their bers of one of the Escarpment’s other pouched lip to an old-fashioned slipper lavish petal called the lip. usually it claims to fame grow with an abundance or moccasin. The flowers are often large is held at the bottom of the flower, and diversity thought unequalled else - and showy. Four of the nine species but sometimes at the top. It both where in any similarly sized area of found in North America occur along the North America north of Mexico. They attracts pollinators and serves as a Trail. Caution! The large yellow and are our native orchids, and they annual - landing pad for them. showy lady’s slippers may cause serious ly draw people from all over the world rashes if handled. in a quest to discover and photograph their exquisite and uncommon beauty. eral species found on the Escarpment are LargeyellowLady’s Some 44 of the 65 orchids that call now considered rare, threatened, or Slipper (Cypripedium parviflorum var. Ontario home can be found on the endangered, making their habitat preser - pubescens) Escarpment. Although several can also vation critical. be found elsewhere along the Bruce Trail n a and at other locations in Ontario, they m o C never occur in such numbers or variety g e r G : as on the Bruce Peninsula. Its 45 ⁰ north o t o h latitude and the climate moderating P effects of its surrounding waters, plus the a k w porous, calcium-rich Escarpment rock o l G y and the cooling effects of its slow sub - r n e H surface drainage, are all thought to be : o t o h factors behind this remarkable fecundity. P Also at play is the fact that the Peninsula and other locations along the yellow lady’s slippers Bruce Trail offer pristine, unaltered habi - There are two varieties of this orchid: the tats that today serve as refuges for Large Yellow Lady’s Slipper and the orchids - considered the most evolved of Northern Small Yellow Lady’s Slipper. The Large Yellow grows to 55 cm and a k w has larger, lighter flowers than the o l G y r Northern Small Yellow, which has dark n e H : purple petals and sepals and rarely grows o t o h taller than 30 cm. The Large Yellow has P Pristine mixed forest habitat a slight rose scent, whereas the Northern along the Bruce Trail Small Yellow smells of spice and vanilla. Both are common and grow in a variety DISCOVERING OUR ORCHIDS of habitats, including mixed forests, So how do you discover these delicate grasslands, and bogs. Look for them jewels, with their harmonious interplays from late May to early July. of design and colour? Different orchids a k prefer different environments and flower w o l G at different times, so it is wise to do a bit y r n e H of research before you set out. Some pre - : o t o fer dry uplands on neutral or alkaline h P soils, while others favour wooded areas Showy Lady’s Slipper (Cypripedium reginae) on acid soils and still others wetlands in habitat that will have you breaking out your Wellingtons. Some are quite showy and all flowering plant families. As such, some sweetly fragrant, some large and orchids often have highly specialized some small, but all – even the smallest – needs and occupy ecological niches that are fascinating and intriguing to the many other living things cannot. The point of wonder. Below are details on widespread destruction of such habitats several of the better known orchids that elsewhere as the result of agricultural you can find on the Niagara Escarpment. and urban development has added For more information on these and Northern Small yellow immensely to the thinning numbers and other native orchids, see the bibliogra - Lady’s Slipper (Cypripedium parviflorum var. makasin) increasing rarity of orchids. Indeed, sev - phy on page 34. 30 BRuCE TRAIL MAGAzINE SPRING 201 4 Showy Lady's Slipper (Cypripedium reginae) or in small groups in forests or dunes on calcium-rich, moist soils. Search for it on the Peninsula east of Highway 6 between orchid etiquette mid-May to mid-June. Avoid stepping near or touching reIn orchIds (PlAtAntherA) orchids. Most have shallow, The largest group of orchids in North extensive, sensitive root systems America, the rein orchids are so called and delicate flowers and stems because the lip of several species is that are easily damaged. It’s thus backed by a nectar-containing spur that best to search for them in small d n fancifully resembles a horse’s rein. Often a groups. l c A the lip is three-lobed, and sometimes e c n e r strikingly fringed. Some 11 species find u a L : o homes on or around the Trail, three of t o h P which we cover here. showy (Queen) lady’s slipper Ram’s Head Lady’s Slipper (Cypripedium arietinum) This spectacular orchid, Canada’s largest, bears one or two massive white, fragrant flowers with pinkish slippers on a stem that can rise to 90 cm. It prefers to grow in colonies on the margins of balsam- cedar swamps in muck soils and along wet beaches. It is fairly common along the Trail and normally flowers from mid- June to late July. Pink Moccasin Flower A subject of one of Tom Thomson’s paintings, this striking orchid bears a a k w o single flower with a rich pink, heavily l G y r veined slipper on a stalk that grows n e H : some 30 cm high. It prefers acidic soils o t o h under jack pines or on the edges of P coniferous swamps or bogs, where it usu - ally forms thin colonies. It is more com - tall White Bog orchid ragged Fringed orchid mon just south of the Bruce Peninsula This attractive orchid with its pure white This delicate-looking, yellowish-greenish and typically flowers in June. flowers fragrant of cloves grows to 70 white orchid is noted for its deeply cm. Look for it from mid-June to July in fringed lip and evening fragrance. Pink Moccasin Flower (Cypripedium acaule) fens and other moist, sunny habitats in the Milton-Halton Hills area and near Ragged Fringed orchid (Platanthera lacera) the Huron shores of the Bruce and at its northern tip. It is not common along the Trail, but sometimes grows with the related Tall Northern Green Orchid, another rein orchid. Tall White Bog orchid (Platanthera dilatata) n o s n p i o s T p i n i T v e n i K v : e o K t : o o h t P o h P ram’s head lady’s slipper Although it can rise to 80 cm, its muted Our rarest, most unusual, and smallest colours may make it tricky to find. It lady’s slipper seldom rises more than 20 blooms from late June through July on cm. Its dime-sized slipper is cone-shaped, moist, acid soils, particularly sphagnum white and hairy on its upper, open sur - bogs, fens, and swamps. The Halton n o face, and reddish-purple as it tapers s Hills-Caledon area is probably the best p i T n below. This orchid typically grows alone i place to find it. v e K : o t o h WWW.BRuCETRAIL.oRG P BRuCE TRAIL MAGAzINE 31 small Purple Fringed orchid striped coralroot With its 30 or more fringed, lilac-purple Backlit by the sun, this largest of the flowers open on a stem that can top 70 Photographing orchids coralroots with its boldly striped flowers cm, this is an exceptionally beautiful Set packs down carefully away from and their ruby lips has indeed been com - orchid. Look for it in wet areas, moist pared to a jewel. Typically it grows in the orchids you wish to photograph. meadows and ditches, the edges of clumps, rarely exceeding 40 cm in use a long focus lens, with the camera swamps, and mucky banks along much height, in dry, open cedar and deciduous set on a tripod away from the plant. If of the Trail from late June through July. woods. It is locally common over much It often forms colonies, and there is a needed, gently tie back surrounding of the Trail from the Milton area north rare white form.