Betcha didn't know – Merrimack: Lady's Slippers

By: Addy Nozell

Lady's Slippers are out. If you walk through the woods and look carefully, you just might spot a few of the rather unusual pale pink, single blossomed, plants.

The pink Lady's Slipper (Cypripedium acaule) was designated the official state wildflower of New Hampshire in 1991. It is characterized by the slipper-shaped pink pouches of the blossom. Using a clever design, the pouches trap insects which are then forced to climb up past the stamen, behind which they collect or deposit pollen, thus fertilizing the flower.

The Lady's Slipper, native to North America, is also known as the moccasin flower, due to its uncanny resemblance to an Indian's shoe, the moccasin. 

Lady's Slippers are protected in some areas of New Hampshire as the numbers have been greatly reduced over the years due to the elimination of moist, rich soil and because people often try to transplant these unusual flowers into their yards.

Transplanting the flower almost always fails because the lady's slipper has a symbiotic relationship with a fungus in the forest and if removed from that environment will not be able to survive.

So take a walk in the woods, try to find a Lady's Slipper, but if you do - please, only take its photo.

Addy Nozell is an 8^th grade student at the Merrimack Middle School. For a summer project, she and her younger sister, Emma, are planning on writing about some of the interesting things in their town that they'll bet you didn't know about.   

Photo credit: Addy Nozell