Of the more than 70 species of wild orchids found in New England, New York, and New Jersey, over a dozen grow in single localities or are sufficiently rare that most orchid enthusiasts will never see them in the wild. Although several of these ‘rarest of the rare’ maybe more easily found south and west of the region, for our purposes we will focus on a virtual trip to these far-flung, hidden, or perilous locales to enjoy photographs of these beautiful wildflowers.
On Thursday, September 9th at 7PM at the Tin Mountain Nature Learning Center on Bald Hill Road in Albany, join renowned botanist and author Paul Martin Brown and artist Stan Folsom on as they transport us for an evening of the rarest wild orchids in the Northeast. From the Pine Barrens of New Jersey to the cedar swamps of Aroostook County, Maine, some of the species we will be exploring include the eastern prairie fringed orchid, Platanthera leucophaea, known only in New England from Crystal Bog, Maine; the striped coralroot, Corallorhiza striata, known only in New York (and absent from New England) from Nelson Swamp; pale fringed orchis, P. pallida, known only from extreme eastern Long Island; Bayard’s adder’s-mouth, Malaxis bayardii, from Cape Cod; and the orange crested orchid, P. cristata, known from a single site in South Dartmouth, MA.
This program is jointly sponsored by L.L. Bean and the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) with whom Tin Mountain Conservation Center and many local landowners cooperate on a variety of land conservation measures from their office in Conway, NH. Cost to non-members is $3/person and $5/family; members are free.