Sparrow's Egg Lady's Slipper

[ronaldhanko]

Photographed on the Berg Lake Trail, Mount Robson Provincial Park, British Columbia.

Sparrow's Egg Lady's Slipper (Cypripedium passerinum) on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

[WhiteRabbit]

Beautiful!
I don't always post in your threads Ron, but I do love seeing the wild orchids you have photographed!
Thank you so much for posting them here!

[ronaldhanko]

Originally Posted by WhiteRabbit

Beautiful!
I don't always post in your threads Ron, but I do love seeing the wild orchids you have photographed!
Thank you so much for posting them here!

Thanks for looking!

[Tindomul]

This is a beauty!

[fishmommy]

amazing, and amazing photo

where is a good place for me to find out about the evolutionary (or digestive? are these carnivorous plants? or reproductive?) value of the pouch?

[Tindomul]

These are not carnivorous. The pouch is solely reproductive to trap a pollinator and force it to pass by the reproductive regions of the flower. I bet the internet has tons of info.

Insects enter the pouch but cannot come back out that way. There is only one way out, another hole at the base of the pouch.

[ronaldhanko]

Thanks for looking and commenting, Fishmommy, but Tindo is correct that they are not carnivorous - the pouch on these is part of the pollinating mechanism.

[fishmommy]

thanks guys.
I didnt think they were, but I have only begun to realize how little I know!