Spiranthes porrifolia

Spiranthes porrifolia, the Western Ladies'-tresses, is one of three Spiranthes in Washington.  It is more abundant in Oregon and California, but is known from only one location in Washington.  We visited that location this summer with friends from Germany and found it growing where expected, but only a very few plants where in previous years we had found as many as sixty or seventy plants.  The location was very hot and dry this summer, more so than usual and earlier than usual and that may account for the lack of plants.  This species is taller than our more common Hooded Ladies-tresses, Spiranthes romanzoffiana, and has flowers that are more tubular and more cream-colored than that species.

June 23

Stream Orchids and Western Ladies' Tresses along the Rogue River

Only July 11 we spent most of the day exploring the Knopki Creek Road in the California Siskiyous, leaving little time for other sites we had hoped to explore.  We did however manage to visit one other easily accesible site along the Rouge River in Oregon, where we had been told we could find the Stream Orchid, Epipactis gigantea, growing.

We were used to finding this orchid growing so close to water that it was almost impossible to photograph without getting wet, but in this case the plants, quickly found, were well back from the edge of the river, growing among the rocks and in the sand just at the edge of the vegetation on the riverbank and fairly well shaded by the other plants.

This plant is supposed to grow as tall as 100 cm, though we have never seen it that large.  Here the plants we found were less than 30 cm tall.  The leaves are pleated and the flowers are around 3 cm in size, very beautiful and very showy.  There can be up to twenty-five flowers per spike, though here there were on five or six per spike.

 

Just before we finished I noticed a small bee that had been hanging around the flowers was now perched on the anther cap of one of the flwoers and as I watched began to scratch at the cap and eventually pulled itfar enough up that he was able to crawl underneath.  He spent quite a bit of time digging around there and appeared to have some pollen attached to him.

We had been told about the Epipactis, but to our delight we found quite a number of spikes of Western Ladies' Tresses, Spiranthes porrifolia, growing with and among the Epipactis.  This orchid, though not uncommon elsewhere is found in only one place in Washington State and is not at all common in Oregon and even where common is lovely indeed.

This species is usually 30-40 cm tall  but here was only 15-20 cm.  The flowers are tubular, creamy white and usually grow in damp areas with good drainage.  The individual flowers are only 1 cm in size but each spike holds up to 50 or 60 of the flowers.  Like all the Spiranthes, the flower spikes appear to be "braided," giving rise to the name "Ladies' Tresses."

Western Ladies'-tresses (Spiranthes porrifolia)

This lovely species ranges from Washington south to California and east to Montana and Nevada.  It is not uncommon, but is found in only one site in Washington state, where these pictures were taken.  It is at the northern limit of its range in Washington.

The name, Ladies' Tresses, the common name of all the Spiranthes refers to the braided appearance of the flower spikes.  The individual flowers are arranged in such a way that they spiral around the stem, giving a braided appearance.

This species is 30-40 cm tall in the Washington location, grows in loose clumps, and has three or four leaves at the base of stem.  The flowers are creamy white and usually grow in damp areas with good drainage.  The individual flowers are only 1 cm in size but each spike holds up to 50 or 60 of the flowers.