TIMES RECORD • May 28, 2025
Lady slippers are early spring flowers, coming out in May and then disappearing after a week or two until the next year. Maine is home to several species of lady slipper orchids, including the ram’s head, which is endangered and against the law to pick. Like lady slipper flowers, lady slipper shells are pretty weird. While they are only typically a couple of inches long and a single shell can appear pretty flattened on a rock, slipper shells can form themselves into stacks of many individuals. They are hermaphroditic, meaning that they have male and female reproductive organs, but that doesn’t mean they are male and female at the same time — they switch from one to the other. Slipper shells start out male and then become female as they get older. The older female stays on the bottom of the stack with the younger male on top, which fertilizes her eggs and produces yet another generation on top of that. ~ Susan Olcott