I noticed them earlier this month. Itty-bitty green, or lavender, or purple flowers—who knows, maybe they change color—blooming along the trail to the Bay. The darned things are hard to photograph, let me tell you. (The dear departed little camera, I keep muttering under my breath as I crawled around in the underbrush, would have gotten a much better closeup.) I thought they looked like some kind of orchid, and after a good bit of page-turning and googling, I decided they’re probably Epipactis helleborine, but I’d be interested in better ideas.
According to my Peterson Wildflowers field guide, helleborine, although an alien, is common in these parts. The Botany Department at the University of Wisconsin groused that it’s a weed in Milwaukee and invasive in Door County. The Ridges Sanctuary agrees, but their August 13 program is If you can’t beat ’em join ’em, a celebration of the mosquito, so I’m not sure how far you want to trust them.
By contrast, the Buffalo Museum of Science offers The Helleborine Orchid and the Museum, a graceful profile of a plant that was acquired for their collection . . . inadvertently. By the time I finished reading that I was laughing. Dollars to cinnamon rolls, the rascal came to northern Michigan with the Civil War veterans who migrated here from New York. Everything conspires to send me back to work.
One more quick distraction. Ed Post, a Grand Haven photographer, had some fine helleborine images in his Flickr stream. He also has a stunning Grand Haven sunset, and another over St. Mary’s Lake in Glacier National Park, and a bear, and . . . just go look at his stuff. You won’t be sorry.
Torch Lake Views 
P.j. grath
July 30, 2010
What are you talking about? Those shots are fantastic, Gerry. And yes, those are the pesky little devils invading all of my gardens, but they ARE ORCHIDS, so I can’t find it in my heart to be mad at them. Uproot some, let the others be. I call their color brown, but what fascinates me is what miniatures they are. And orchids, growing like weeds! Okay, so they are weeds. You know what I mean.
Gerry
July 30, 2010
I do know what you mean! Since my garden is the patch of cattails on the beach, I am not troubled by invastions of much of anything with roots, so I was astonished to discover that there are orchids anywhere that are . . . unwelcome. Gives me a whole new perspective on the social pecking order, it does. I tell you one thing I learned while trying to figure out what these were: orchid fanciers are not always knowledgeable about wild orchids. A person must be very careful about what a person believes on the ‘net.
Anna
July 31, 2010
Great shots. 🙂 They look similar to something we have growing wild here… especially in my yard. They haven’t bloomed yet. A type of nightshade perhaps? I’m not sure. Many plants, known as invasive to what is native in a state, came with migrations and the Civil War.
Gerry
July 31, 2010
Good morning, Anna! I’d thought of nightshade, too, but I’m pretty familiar with nightshade and this is different. I’ll keep an eye on it and see if I can capture the fruiting/seed spreading part of the cycle, but I’m pretty sure it’s Epipactis helleborine. Pretty sure.
Molly
July 31, 2010
Take heart, Gerry. When everything conspires to send you back to work, you know you’re working on the Right Thing!
Gerry
July 31, 2010
Oh, I absolutely agree! Every time I bestir myself to follow up on a research trail–every single time–I have been rewarded with riches. At first it was eerie but now it just makes me happy.
Cindy Lou
July 31, 2010
It does look like a member of the hellebore family so I think you’re on the right track, Miss Gerry! My sister always says, “It’s only a weed if it’s growing where you don’t want it.” Therefore, I have some lovely little patches of wild grasses and other ‘things’ that I like!
And you and your little camera are doing just fine, sweetie! 🙂
Gerry
July 31, 2010
Thank you, ma’am. You would not believe how many times I had to counsel severely with the little camera just to get it to do a macro shot at all. “No!” I kept saying, “I do not want that patch of grass! I want the flower that’s right in front of your lens, you goof!”