Fairy Slippers (aka Calypso), Rare Color Variation, Colorado
Fairy slippers, also called Calypso, are an orchid-like flower that is somewhat rare around here. They can be found in the woods a month or so after the snow melts. But white fairy slippers are rarer still. While I informally have called these albinos, Doug Robertson observes that that is not correct from a genetic viewpoint and the term "color morph" is more accurate. Here's a group that my wife found near Breckenridge.
Here are normal fairy slippers. This area had thousands of them in 2006 (and 2008).
Maybe the white ones aren't so rare after all. In June 2008, after a big snow year, hillsides near our house yielded thousands of fairy slippers, and many white ones. Here's a shot of a very white one.
Here is a nice closeup provided by Doug Robertson.
