Calypso Salisb.
“Hi, Calypso, I’ll sing you a story…”
 Calypso bulbosa |
There are several very showy and appealing native orchids in Canada. But to my mind, the most fabulous one is a rather small sized pink orchid: Calypso bulbosa. This orchid grows throughout the northern hemisphere – quite far north! It is variable in appearance and may have different botanical forms but scientists have agreed that there is only one Calypso orchid.
The name goes back to ancient Greece: the beautiful, wise and charming nymph Calypso lived hidden, in solitude, on a lovely island where Odysseus arrived after being ship-wrecked by Poseidon, God of the Sea. For seven years, the goddess tried to make Odysseus stay, but eventually he left. Jacques Cousteau named his ship “The Calypso” in remembrance of the enchanting, island-dwelling goddess who rescued the lost sailor.
In Europe, at the time when the Calypso orchids bloom (about May), you can go on a special journey to the land of the midnight sun and try to find these elusive flowers; you may take pictures, but no-one is allowed to touch the flowers or to pick them or dig them out. The traveller stands in reverence before the orchids and keeps the memory of his romantic trip into the Northern Forest forever in his heart.
Here in Canada, we are fortunate to be able to see these beauties, sometimes called ‘Fairy Slippers’ in many woodland places. They say that in captivity they do not live long – as many wildlings; they need their special environment. They may be in the gardens for a few years and then the little plant dies. Perhaps we should take a page from the Europeans’ book: let the orchids stay in their little islands of wilderness.
Calypso bulbosa has an underground corm and in late summer, a small round leaf grows from this storage organ. The bright green leaf of not more than 3cm size stays on during the winter, underneath the snow and in spring, the flowers emerge. During the summer’s heat, the whole little plant goes dormant and you won’t find any trace of it. “Calypso” means “The Hidden One”. Very often the plants grow in dry, shady places between shrubs so that even when they bloom, you may not notice the 5cm rosy flowers on their 10cm stems among tall grasses. Calypso bulbosa has a pouch-shaped lip with a light or dark yellow, bristly crest; the sepals and petals flare out and come in different shades of rose, even white. Although the lip looks like a small sack, this orchid is not a lady slipper. The Calypso orchid exudes a lovely rose-like perfume, probably to attract its pollinators. Or is it to remember the beautiful Greek nymph?
If any of you are fortunate to find one or several of these intriguing woodland sprites, please remember the command of the forest: “Take nothing but pictures and leave nothing but footprints!”
Ingrid Schmidt-Ostrander - Canadian Orchid Congress