looduskalender.ee

 

 

We can find it in wooded meadows, alvar and broadleaf woodlands. The largest and most beautiful of the European orchids has started flowering in its fresh and half-shaded habitats. Large populations grow in western Estonia, on the western islands, in Järva- and Jõgevamaa.

 

The flower is as a golden shoe with brown ribbon-like streaks, leaves remind of the lily of the valley but are somewhat sturdier. The short-haired stem, about twenty centimetres long, sometimes even more than half a metre, carries one or two, more rarely three flowers. The lady’s slipper reaches flowering age only after 10 to 15 years. Pollinators are a few bee species which is why usually only a quarter of the flowers set fruit.

 

THE LADY’S SLIPPER IS STRICTLY PROTECTED IN ALL OF EUROPE!