This will be my last post of the year. The native orchids are all finished blooming now and there is not a lot of time for hiking either. In a way it's too bad that the last post has to do with an orchid as common and insignificant as this and not with something rarer and more beautiful, but such is life.
The Giant Rattlesnake Orchis is one we see on every hike, at every elevation, and in every possible habitat. It is around 30 cm tall and has beautifully patterned leaves, but very small whitish tubular flowers. These were photographed along the Ross Lake trail to Green point where they were growing everywhere in the woods.
