Another location I visited on May 20th, but much further north, was a site where the Eastern Fairy Slipper, Calypso bulbosa var. americana, grows in abundance, but I found it near the end of its bloom season and early like everything else. This variety of the Fairy Slipper is very different from the Western Fairy Slipper, with a yellow beard on an otherwise nearly unspotted lip. Nor does it grow west of the Cascades as does the Western Fairy Slipper. I also found in the same location one plant still in bloom of Kostiuk's Hybrid Fairy Slipper, Calypso bulbosa x kostiukiae, a rare natural hybrid of the Eastern and Western Fairy Slippers. It is also very distinctive, with a pale yellow beard, midway between the bright yellow and white of the two varieties and a finely spotted lip. With these two Fairy Slippers there were also several stems of the Early Coralroot, Corallorhiza trifida.
Eastern Fairy Slipper
Calypso bulbosa var. americana
Kostiuk's Hybrid Fairy Slipper
Calypso bulbosa x kostiukiae
Early Coralroot
Corallorhiza trifida