Orchids often reproduce by sending up additional shoots from the rhizome, but can produce seeds. When they do, the seeds are lightweight and are easily blown around by the wind. The dried swamp may have provided the right nutrients and optimal environment for germination.
Observation by Brandi Radigan:
I’ve seen this all around the Wrangell’s but it’s strange that there’s just two small plants in the middle of my dried swamp this year. There’s never been any orchids on the property.
Comments from LEO Editors:
Wild orchids are always a treat when you find them. This looks like the sparrow's egg lady's slipper (Cypripedium passerinum) characterized by the lowermost petal in the rounded shape of a slipper and the purple dots that resemble those on a sparrow's egg. According to the Consortium of Pacific Northwest Herbaria, this lady's slipper has been documented ranging from the inland mountains of British Columbia, in to the Yukon Territories, in to eastern Interior and Southcentral Alaska, across the Brooks Range, and along the southern coast of the Seward Peninsula and Northwest Alaska. The wide species range in Alaska speaks to the variety of habitats that this orchid will thrive in - they can be found in spruce forests, in bogs, tundra, and in coarser soils of stream banks. The sparrow's egg lady's slipper is unique in that it can self pollinate. Under certain conditions it will reproduce by seed, but more often spreads by sending up additional shoots from the rhizome. When they do produce, orchid seeds are very light and are easily blown around in the wind. The dried swamp may have had the ideal soil nutrients and environmental conditions for this chance encounter! Erica Lujan
