Mikell's Hidden Treasures
  • Today's Treasure
  • Welcome
  • Gallery
  • Lessons from Nature
    • Legends
    • Animals >
      • Can Animals "Manifest"?
    • Plants >
      • Herbs
      • Weeds
      • Yarrow
  • Women Connect Articles

Pink Lady's Slipper

5/30/2016

 
Picture
Lady's Slipper, Cypripedium acaule
The pink lady's slipper orchid is one of nature's rarest and most spectacular wildflowers. I've been blessed to find her almost every spring since my first sighting as a child. Seeing her made me gasp in delight and my reaction hasn't changed decades later. If you have the fortune to come across her in the woods, she will most likely be growing in highly acidic soil. The months of May and June are the best times to search for her in the eastern United States. 

The rhizomes of the plant, never the flower, have been used medicinally as a tonic for nervous disorders and insomnia. At one time the plant was used for protection against the evil eye, but as she has become more and more rare, it is our turn to protect her! Look but don't touch! 


Her latin name, Cypripedium acaule,
is loosely translated to mean a shoe of Venus. Native American Indians called her the moccasin flower.

The slipper like shape of the plant has inspired imaginative legends. One story from the Ojibwa tribe tells of an Indian maiden in search of medicine for members of her tribe who are desperately ill. As she wanders through the woods it begins to snow and her bare feet become bloodied from the sharp stones and debris along the snow covered path. After a long journey, she returns with the medicine. The following spring, pink lady's slippers spring up from her foot prints to honor her selfless journey. 

Another legends tells of an Indian warrior who leaves his wife and daughter to fight in a battle. The daughter cries as he is departing and he consoles her by telling her he will bring her a pair of pink moccasins. Tragically, he dies in battle and his daughter then dies from heart ache. While visiting her grave site, her mother finds a pair of pink moccasins, the lovely lady slipper orchids, growing on her grave and is consoled that they have been reunited. My empathic nature couldn't help but wish for a happier ending for the mom!


Comments are closed.

    "My mission is 
    to help others see and cherish the beauty, 
    romance and treasures within and around them 
    that are often dismissed or completely overlooked."
    



    undefined

    by NatureInspiresStudio

    Categories

    All
    Art
    Baltimore
    Beauty
    Collecting Firsts
    Creativity
    Do The Write Thing
    Exploring Rainbows
    Fashion And Fabrics
    Flood
    Friends
    Health
    Herbs
    Holiday
    Holidays
    Insects
    Insights
    Inspiration
    Jazz
    Journals
    Journey
    Legends
    Lessons From Nature
    Mandala
    Maps
    Memorable Moments
    Music
    Numbers
    Orioles!
    Pay It Forward
    Pets
    Quotes
    Recipes
    Rose
    Seeds
    Stars
    Take The Rose Instead
    Travel
    Treasures
    Universe
    Vintage
    Youth

    Mikell 

    Mikell is a writer, artist and professional treasure hunter, finding the greatest treasures in the wonderful people who enter her life!

    Archives

    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    April 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    September 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012

    RSS Feed

  • Today's Treasure
  • Welcome
  • Gallery
  • Lessons from Nature
    • Legends
    • Animals >
      • Can Animals "Manifest"?
    • Plants >
      • Herbs
      • Weeds
      • Yarrow
  • Women Connect Articles