Bumbling into pollen

If your brain is steeped in Thoreau and you see nature as a source of inspiration and instruction, or like Voltaire’s Dr. Pangloss you believe “All is for the best in the best of possible worlds,” it’s time you considered the relationship between the pink ladyslipper, a widespread and common Adirondack orchid, and the bumblebee.

Let’s start with the plant. It’s a stunner. Big, fleshy leaves marked with parallel veins rise from underground stems and pierce the leaf litter. It