Lady’s-slipper

How to Spot Lady’s-slipper?

The best time to see Lady’s-slipper in bloom is the springtime, between May and June. However, they are not a flower that you‘re likely to come across on your morning walk. Once widespread across Cumbria, Durham, Lancashire, Yorkshire and Derbyshire, Lady’s-slipper suffered severe losses as a result of over-collecting and habitat loss. By 1917 it was thought to be extinct in the wild. 

Over the last few years, we’ve been working with partners Natural England, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, the National Trust and the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI) on a project led by Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, to bring the plant back from the brink. 

Read the full story here.

Where to Spot Lady’s-slipper?

For years there was just one single Lady’s-slipper in the wild in the UK, and it‘s location remains a closely guarded secret. 

Today, a number of the plants are flourishing in the wild and there is once again the chance for the public to witness these wonderful wildflowers in their natural habitat. 

For a chance to see the orchid, you can visit Kilnsey Park near Grassington in the Yorkshire Dales in late May and early June. You can find more information here.

Facts about Lady’s-slipper

• Did you know that Charles Darwin’s study of orchids, including Lady’s-slipper, is said to have led to his famous theory of natural selection?
• Lady’s-slipper was a life-long mystery that Charles Darwin couldn’t solve! Darwin tried to propagate a number of orchid species to help prove his theory of adaptions in nature, but he could never figure out how to propagate Lady’s-slipper. It wasn’t until the 1990s, more than a century after Darwin’s death, that researchers solved the mystery. It was found that Lady’s-slipper could reproduce asexually by producing clones of the parent plant, through underground branching stems.
• The Lady’s-slipper tricks insects into pollination. It doesn’t have any nectar to entice pollinators, so instead produces a honey-like smell to trick them into thinking it does. When the insect enters the plant, downward facing hairs, force it through a small hole, where it brushes off pollen from other plants, pollinating the flower. 

Photo shows Lady’s-slipper seed pod – all photos taken by Kevin Walker