With the sun higher in the sky as the day approached noon, it was time to head into the woods and continue the search for more orchids. Along the way I spotted another plant that I didn’t know existed in Minnesota, Indian Paintbrush. While they are not orchids, they’re still amazing to see. These were growing near the roadside also and were growing in two different colors – orange and yellow. Stopping near some of these I got to examine their blooms more closely and discovered how beautiful they are with the green leaves tipped in either orange or yellow hiding their little flowers from view. Realizing I had been distracted by another beautiful flower, it was time to search for these orchids I came to find.

Talking with a local DNR employee earlier, he pointed me to a few locations to begin my search. Arriving at the first one I stepped out of the vehicle, grabbed the camera, and disappeared in the woods. Within a few minutes I came across some markings placed by other people and saw the little leaves they led to. It was the Calypso orchids holding their seed pods high above them. Unfortunately the blooms were done but it was still fun to find an orchid I had not seen before. If they were not marked I’m not sure I would have found them. Their single leaves are so small and grow very close to the ground. Once I spotted these I looked around and saw several others in the area. It must be beautiful in this place when they’re blooming.

While looking around at these Calypso’s, I began to slowly move forward a short distance when I spotted something else that appeared to be an orchid right as my foot was nearing the ground. Quickly shifting my direction, I almost lost my balance but managed to stay upright while avoiding stepping on this plant. Bending over to look closer, I realized it was another orchid. The flower stalk was growing but the flowers had not opened yet. I took a few pictures and continued exploring for more of these. After a little while I came across one of these orchids with the blooms open allowing me to get pictures of its blooms. Examining the flowers made me almost positive it was Platanthera hookeri. Eventually I confirmed that ID and added another new orchid to my found list. Slowly meandering through the woods I came across a few additional orchids past their bloom time. One was the early coral root which at first I thought was Corallorhiza odontorhiza. Further research confirmed that would be the Autumn coral root and what I actually found was the seed head of early coral root. Several of these were found in a few locations last year. The other new orchid was the Ram’s Head Ladyslipper. This was the one orchid at the top of my list to spot on this trip. Unfortunately the blooms were all done so there were just leaves and seed pods to see for this year. Another trip during their bloom period is in order. What a successful day of orchid hunting find 3 orchids I’ve never seen before! Now it was time to get some food.