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Pink Lady's Slippers in Clay County, North Carolina
About this photograph
- Date created
- May 17, 2005
- Location
- Clay County, North Carolina
- License
- This photograph copyright ©2005. Terms of use
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- Search LEARN NC for Clay County, endangered, endangered plant, flowers, Lady's slipper, medicine, mountains, North Carolina, orchids, Pink Lady's Slipper, and plants.
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These are Pink Lady’s Slippers in Clay County, North Carolina. The flower is a member of the orchid family. It prefers highly acidic soil, the kind that occurs commonly in pine forests. It also requires that a fungal mycelia be present in the soil, making it very difficult to cultivate the plant. It thrives in the eastern third of the nation, but while it is common in some areas, it is rare in others. In Nova Scotia, Canada, and Tennessee and Illinois, the flower is considered endangered, and removing or disturbing it is against the law. The plant has been used historically as a remedy for nervousness, tooth pain, and muscle spasms. Today, it is illegal to export any part of the plant without a permit.
