Wild Orchids

 

I found this wild rose pogonia orchid on the shore of a lake where the water reflects white clouds. I'm just now getting around to bragging about my sightings of these summer orchids. They bloom in the New Jersey pine barrens from mid-June through early July.

Here's one close up. The lower lip is bearded with a colorful fringe. It is easy to understand its common name of snake mouth orchid.

This line from the New York poet, Joseph Pullman Porter's, poem "Wild Orchids" perfectly describes the place where I found these: "Under the pine, near the murmuring brook, I know the wild orchids grow, Fair and pure in their shady nook..."