The queen of the forest: Lady's Slippers in the UK

 30/05/24. A day after the quantum mechanics exam

Once the rarest orchid in the UK, the lady's slipper orchid is still critically endangered and highly sought-after. This majestic orchid, perhaps the most attractive in the UK, was never common in our country, but rampant over-collecting caused the plant to decline to just one native site in the north of England, where it is heavily protected. Other orchids were propagated from that plant and reintroduced to several locations across the north. Until recently, the best place to see these orchids would be Gait Barrows national nature reserve. However, after it was discovered that the plants were of continental origin, all the plants were removed from the site. There are other places to see them, however. One of which I visited today. 

The day began well enough, but soon something derailed north of Lancaster and all trains got cancelled. I eventually found one which wasn't, and it got cancelled. The next one also got cancelled. And the one after than finally ran. I arrived in the Dales one hour behind schedule and proceeded to the site, arriving soon after despite rather nasty wind conditions. 

Excited about the calcereous flush habitat, I accessed the area and promptly got myself extremely wet and muddy by accident. The area contained what I was looking for. It was the Queen. Well, almost...

It was a Queen which looked like it had been chewed on! Half of the remaining bloom was missing, and all the others had gone over! 

I checked nearby, and the ones over there looked like they had been eaten by slugs. There was one more place to check, however, and I began exploring an beautiful woodland. Halfway up a certain valley, there was a muddy slope (where I promptly slipped and nearly fell down the slope), and on that slope there grew a magnificent lady's slipper orchid. 

Unlike the ones in the flush, this one was pristine. As I looked more closely, I realised this one amazing plant had the flowers all in 3 different stages of development:

One was still in bud, elegant and beautiful

One was unfolding slowly

And one majestic flower was fully in bloom

This is definitely my favourite orchid so far, in any country.