Cypripedium calceolus
Early-purple Orchid ("Orchis mascula"), another geophyte, is found under the lighter shade of sparser woodland cover in Grass Wood. This shows its ability to occupy a range of habitat since it is more often associated with open grassland, and can be seen in profusion in the nearby Conistone Old Pasture. The conditions in Grass Wood would also seem ideal for a rare and highly endangered orchid, the Lady's-slipper ("Cypripedium calceolus") that is known historically to have grown in the limestone area of the Yorkshire Dales. It is found in continental Europe growing in the decomposed humus of semi-shaded woodland cover on limestone. While the virtual extinction of the Lady's-slipper orchid from its historical range is often blamed on uprooting by gardeners and botanists, it is also the case that its preferred habitat shrunk markedly with human clearance of woodland from the limestone landscape, and the grazing of sheep will have finished it off. It is to be hoped that the rescue plan for the Lady's-slipper orchid is successful, and that Grass Wood may eventually be chosen as one of the locations for its general re-introduction.