At the annual show of the Spokane Orchid Society to which we belong, I made and set up a display illustrating Washington's native orchids. The display included photos, information, cut-out models of orchids and handouts. The display won several ribbons and an Educational Excellent Award from the American Orchid Society. These are the photos and information included in the display.
The three Orchid-gami, produced by the North American Orchid Conservation Center were:
Eastern Fairy Slipper
Striped Coralroot
Chatterbox (Epipactic gigantea)
The information on the display with the photos included
(top to bottom, left to right):
(top to bottom, left to right):
Chatterbox Orchid
lip "chatters" in the breeze
Washington’s only non-native orchid
Broad-leaved Helleborine
this orchid is a European native
which has established itself across North America
Broad-leaved Helleborine
this orchid is a European native
which has established itself across North America
Washington’s most common orchid
Giant Rattlesnake Orchid
Giant Rattlesnake Orchid
Washington’s most popular orchid
Fairy Slipper
Fairy Slipper
Fairy Slipper Facts
Washington has two varieties of the Fairy Slipper
Eastern Fairy Slipper
distinguished by a yellow “beard”
and found across North America
and
Western Fairy Slipper
distinguished by a white “beard”
and found only west of the Rockies
where the range of these two varieties overlaps
a hybrid of the two can be found
Kostiuk’s Hybrid Fairy Slipper
distinguished by a finely spotted lip
Washington has two varieties of the Fairy Slipper
Eastern Fairy Slipper
distinguished by a yellow “beard”
and found across North America
and
Western Fairy Slipper
distinguished by a white “beard”
and found only west of the Rockies
where the range of these two varieties overlaps
a hybrid of the two can be found
Kostiuk’s Hybrid Fairy Slipper
distinguished by a finely spotted lip
Washington's rarest orchid
Chamiso's Orchid
Washington's smallest orchid
Heart-leaved Twayblade
Washington's three Lady's Slippers
Northern Yellow Lady's Slipper
Brownie or Clustered Lady's Slipper
Mountain Lady's Slipper
Orchid Facts
orchids are found on every continent except Antarctica
there are over 27,000 orchid species world-wide
many tropical orchids are ephiphytic, growing in trees
most North American orchids are terrestrial
all of Washington’s orchids are terrestrial
orchids have a modified third petal called a labellum
orchids have a fused male and female column
orchids have waxy masses of pollen called pollinia
Bog Candle
this is Washington's most fragrant orchid
Washington has four Coralroot species
and the Phantom Orchid
----------
these orchids have little or no chlorophyll
and are leafless or nearly so
----------
they are mycoheterotrophic
getting nutrients from decaying soil materials
through a symbiotic relationship with a fungus
----------
they can often be found on dark forest floors
where there is little light
Phantom Orchid
Spotted Coralroot
Striped Coralroot
Early Coralroot
Western Coralroot
they can often be found on dark forest floors
where there is little light
Spotted Coralroot
Striped Coralroot
Early Coralroot
Western Coralroot
NATIVE
ORCHIDS OF WASHINGTON STATE
the
state of Washington has 33 orchid species
Fairy
Slipper (April and May) Calypso bulbosa
Spotted
Coralroot (April
and
May) Corallorhiza maculata
Brownie
or Clustered Lady’s
Slipper (April to June) Cypripedium fasciculatum
- rare
Striped
Coralroot (May and June) Corallorhiza striata
Western
or Merten’s Coralroot (May and June) Corallorhiza
mertensiana
Early
or Yellow Coralroot (May and June) Corallorhiza trifida
Northern
Yellow Lady’s Slipper (May and June) Cypripedium parviflorum
– rare in Washington
Mountain
Lady’s Slipper (May through July) Cypripedium montanum
Heart-leaved
Twayblade (May through July) Neottia cordata
Phantom
Orchid (June and July)
Cephalanthera austiniae
Stream
Orchid or Chatterbox (June and July) Epipactis gigantea
Frog
Orchid or Long-bracted Green
Orchid (June and July)
Dactylorhiza viridis –
rare in Washington
Western
Ladies’ Tresses (June and July) Spiranthes porrifolia –
rare in Washington
Northern
Twayblade (June and July) Neottia borealis – rare in
Washington
Northwestern
Twayblade (June and July) Neottia banksiana
Blunt-leaved
Rein Orchid (June and July) Platanthera obtusata – rare in
Washington
Northern
Green Bog Orchid (June and July) Platanthera aquilonis
Tall
Green Bog Orchid (June and July) Platanthera huronensis
Giant
Rattlesnake Orchid (June through August) Goodyera
oblongifolia
White
Bog Orchid
or Bog Candle (June through
August) Platanthera
dilatata
Alaskan
Piperia (June through August) Platanthera unalascensis
Chamisso’s
Orchid (July) Platanthera chorisiana – rare
Sparse-flowered
Bog Orchid (July) Platanthera sparsiflora – questionable in
Washington
Slender
Bog Orchid (July and
August) Platanthera
stricta
Elegant
Piperia (July and August) Platanthera elegans
Flat-spurred
Piperia (July and August) Platanthera transversa
Long-spurred
Piperia (July and August) Platanthera elongata
White-flowered
Piperia (July and August) Platanthera ephemerantha
Round-leaved
Rein Orchid (July and August) Platanthera orbiculata – rare
in Washington
Broad-leaved
Twayblade (July and August) Neottia convallarioides
Hooded
Ladies’ Tresses
(July and August)
Spiranthes romanzoffiana
Ute
Ladies’ Tresses (August) Spiranthes diluvialis – rare in
Washington
Broad-leaved
Helleborine (August)
Epipactis helleborine
– not a native
Washington
also has three known natural orchid hybrids
Kostiuk’s
Hybrid Fairy Slipper (May) Calypso bulbosa x kostiukiae - rare
Columbia
Hybrid Lady’s Slipper (May and June) Cypripedium x columbianum
Estes
Hybrid Rein Orchid (June and July) Platanthera x estesii
Note:
this list does not include varieties and subspecies.
********
Do’s
and Dont’s
1.
Do watch for native orchids.
You
may find something unusual or very rare.
2.
Do ask.
If you can’t identify the orchids you find., there is always
someone eager to help.
3.
Do take photos.
Photos
help in identification and in saying “look what I found!”
1.
Don’t pick.
Picking
the flowers often destroys the plant.
Picking
or digging wildflowers is illegal in most places.
2.
Don’t dig.
Most
native orchids cannot be grown in a garden due to their association
with a fungus.
2.
Don’t trample.
When
observing or photographing be careful not to trample the orchids or
other plants.
3.
Don’t tell.
Especially
if you’ve found something rare, tell only those you trust where you
found it.
Ron
Hanko
http://nativeorchidsofthepacificnorthwest.blogspot.com
Organizations:
1.
Washington Native Orchid Society
sponsors
3-4 orchid-hunting excursions every spring and summer, mostly in
western Washington
further
information can be found at: http://www.wanativeorchids.org
2.
Washington Native Plant Society
has
different chapters around the state
sponsors
hikes and nature walks in different areas
has
a much broader interest than just native orchids
further
information can be found at: https://www.wnps.org
3.
Goorchids
sponsored
by the North American Orchid Conservation Center
has
information for identifying all North American orchids
produces
the orchid-gami that are part of this display
further
information can be found at:
https://goorchids.northamericanorchidcenter.org
4 comments:
Nice display, photos and a lot of interesting information on orchids.
Congratulations on winning the awards.
There's a lot of beauty out there to explore and appreciate.
Such a nice pastime to get out in nature and seek out these beautiful creations that God has created.
Take care. Thelma.
Thanks, Thelma. We do enjoy the creation and God's hand in it.
Oh, RON!!! This is just FANTASTIC!!! I mean WOW. I am so pleased that you made the monumental effort to recreate your display online so that I could appreciate every morsel. Wondrous. The pictures are all just so super. The information that you have shared is really interesting and makes me want so BADLY to go out and revisit the places where I found orchids in the past. I am in awe of the different flowers you've "collected" so far...or perhaps you have seen every wild orchid in Washington? What a wonderful challenge to find every one of them. I am so delighted that you can turn your passion into a display like this which in turn ignites a passion in others.
Congratulations for the well-deserved awards. It was a magnificent display and now it is an outstanding blog which the world can now enjoy.
You really are the best. Thank you so much for the show, I simply loved it. AND by the way, I showed Steve and he was totally blown away. :)
There is one Washington native orchid that I haven't seen in Washington, though I've seen it in the Canadian Rockies where it is very common (rare in Washington). Thanks for the comments, they are much appreciated.
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