The Beautiful Life of a Lady Slipper Orchid
Beth Boles
Cypripedioideae paphiopedilum
The Lady Slipper Orchid has long been a symbol of beauty and grace and has a rich history.
According to Native American Folklore, the beginning of the Lady Slipper Orchid began with a young maiden who saved her village, whose people had become very sick and were dying. She traveled over very rough terrain to a neighboring village to obtain the medicine needed to cure her village and she brought it back to them. Her heroism was rewarded and celebrated by the appearance of lovely lady slipper orchids popping up in every moccasin footprint she made on her journey.
Lady Slipper Orchids are not poisonous and have been used in traditional medicine. Drinking a tincture of its roots is a calming remedy for insomnia and stress. It was given mostly to women who experienced hysteria. The slipper-shaped lip of the orchid flower helps guide pollinating insects into the pouch that holds the reproductive elements of the plant. The insects need to move through those elements to leave the pouch, thus ensuring fertilization.
Some of the other names for this orchid are Moccasin Flowers; Venus’ Shoes, and Steeple Cap Flower.
The following photos are the life of one of these orchids. The sweet beauty of the beginning of the flower, the elegance of how it grew, and the dignified and refined splendor of her last stage in life.
