They're back!

 Found near Oakland Feather River Camp on May 13, 2020. I've been back several times during the past week.  It's such a compelling plant, I keep wanting to capture the ultimate photo.  Can't really

improve on nature though. Every now and then I've seen a small insect inside the white, bulbous flower and wondered about the plant's reproductive life. I've seen tiny winged insects as well as beetles.  The latter are also winged, but spend most of their time with the wing covers hiding the

actual wings.  I typed Mountain Lady's Slipper into my browser and found many websites that describe locations where this orchid may be found, it's status as far as threats to its existence are

concerned, etc., etc., but very little information about its natural history, reproduction in particular.  Until I finally found a 50+ page technical paper that satisfied my curiosity. It turns out a number of different insects might venture inside through the hole at the top of the flower, but only certain specific species are capable of successfully pollinating the plant.  The very tiny bees that can accomplish this know about (or are lured into a very small exit hole on the underside of the flower. On the way out, they manage to drag pollen from the anthers of the flower, or a previously-visited flower, through a narrow space that can deposit the pollen on the sticky stigma which contains the opening of the tube that leads to the female cell.  The pollen (male cell) and female cell (ovum) unit to form a seed.  The seeds are so tiny that each flower produces thousands that are a lot small than grains of sand.  I relating these tidbits from memory of the article I read several days ago.  I'll read it again and correct any gross errors that I discover. Meanwhile, it's the beauty of these orchids and the setting where I find them that keeps me coming back.  In a couple of weeks, they'll be gone for the season.

Speaking of the setting, one of the most beautiful companions of the orchids at this particular location and the Western Dog Violet. These photos are almost a week old, and, yes, I photographed both species again today (5/19), along with some new ones. Stay tuned....