"What a thousand acres of Silphiums looked like when they tickled the bellies of the buffalo is a question never again to be answered, and perhaps not even asked." -Aldo Leopold
Spiranthes lacera, St. Francois Co, MO. f/16, 1/50 sec., ISO-640, 234 mm focal length equivalent
I only managed to photograph one of the Spiranthes this year. I had opportunities for others, but I just couldn’t get to the right place at the right time. Good news is that it shouldn’t be too difficult to add them next year.
Spiranthes lacera, St. Francois Co, MO. f/16, 1/60 sec., ISO-640, 234 mm focal length equivalent
A bit closer really shows off the delicate details in flower and twisting stem.
Spiranthes lacera with passenger, St. Francois Co, MO. f/16, 1/50 sec., ISO-640, 234 mm focal length equivalent
Purple Fringless Orchid (Platanthera peramoena) 234 mm focal length equivalent, f/6.3, 1/125 sec. ISO-160, focus stack of four exposuresPurple Fringless Orchid (Platanthera peramoena) 234 mm focal length equivalent, f/6.3, 1/80 sec. ISO-250, focus stack of five exposuresPurple Fringless Orchid with Eastern Pondhawk, 234 mm focal length equivalent, f/6.3, 1/160 sec. ISO-125
One of the penalties of an ecological education is that one lives alone in a world of wounds. Much of the damage inflicted on land is quite invisible to laymen. An ecologist must either harden his shell and make believe that the consequences of science are none of his business, or he must be the doctor who sees the marks of death in a community that believes itself well and does not want to be told otherwise.
Aldo Leopold
Yellow-fringed Orchid (Platanthera ciliaris)
With the help of a friend, over the last few weeks I’ve been able to get a good start at finding and photographing as many of the 35 +/- orchids that can be found in Missouri. The yellow-fringed orchid (Platanthera ciliaris) is known from only a handful of threatened locations in the state. I was really thankful to be shown these in full bloom where they reside in acidic seeps in St. Francois County.
I had seen rattlesnake plantain (Goodyera pubescens) before, as its wonderful evergreen leaves stand out during winter hikes. This was the first time I’ve seen them in bloom. Photographed in Ste. Genevieve County.
Not the greatest photo of the greatest specimen, but this seemed to be the absolute last grass pink orchid (Calopogon tuberosus) to be found in bloom for the season at this location in St. Francois County.
A Thousand Acres of Silphiums 