Galearis rotundifolia fma. wardii

The Small Round-leaf Orchis, Galearis rotundifolia, has a number of color forms.  We always look for these when we find this species, though some of the forms are quite rare and hard to find.  Hiking the Berg Lake trail in the Canadian Rockies this summer, the species was finished at lower elevations but we found it in abundance higher up and among the many plants we saw we found a couple of plants that had white flowers instead of the usual pink, but that were not completely white, the lip showing faint pink markings along with a green spots at the base of the lip.  This is a named form, Galearis rotundifolia fma. wardii.

Galearis rotundifolia

This species was once classified as Amerorchis.  It is closely related to the European genus Orchis and was once classified as part of that genus.  Under either name, it is the only such species in the North America.  It does not, however, grow in Washington, though it grows in Idaho and Montana and other northern states further east.  It is not a large plant, growing to 20 cm tall with 1.5 cm flowers.  Where it is found, however, it often grows in profusion, carpeting the ground.  We have been in places where it grows so thickly it is difficult to walk without stepping on plants.  It has a number of different color forms one of which we found this summer and which will be the subject of a future post.

July 8

(Canadian Rockies)

 July 10

(Canadian Rockies)

The End of Another Season (2013)

The 2013 native orchid season was very unusual in some ways.  It began very early with a warm wet spring and ended very early with a warm dry summer.  It was good orchid-hunting season for us in our own state, however, with one variety, two species and one natural hybrid seen in Washington for the first time, along with several new locations found for the all-white form of the Western Fairy Slipper and with our first look at the unspotted form of the Western Spotted Coralroot.

On a trip to Canada we saw two new species that we had not seen before, as well as a new variety of the Small Round-leaf Orchis, a very common northern species that is not found in Washington.  All of these are very rare and elusive and we are very thankful to a friend, Ben Rostron, for trusting us enough to take us to see them in their closely guarded locations.  This trip was the high point of the orchid season for us and we hope to make the trip again next year.

The two species that we had not seen before in Washington were Cypripedium parviflorum and the elusive and tiny Platanthera chorisiana.  The former is very rare in Washington and the latter rare throughout its range.  We also saw the natural hybrid of Cypripedium parviflorum and Cypripedium montanum, Cypripedium x columbianum.  Though we had seen this hybrid before we were delighted to find it growing in a mixed population that included both parents.

We also saw for the first time in Washington, the Eastern Fairy Slipper, Calypso bulbosa var. americana.  We had seen this species in British Columbia but not in our state.  In the location where we found it we looked for the natural hybrid of the two varieties of Fairy Slippers, Calypso bulbosa x kostiukiae, but could not find it, another task for next season.  The Eastern Fairy Slipper is notable for its yellow beard and unspotted central lip lobe.

The new species seen in Canada were Liparis loeslii, the Fen Orchis and Malaxis brachypoda, the White Adder's Mouth.  Both of these are rather insignificant and would probably pass unnoticed to the casual observer, but we were delighted to see them for their rarity.  We also saw on this trip Amerorchis rotundifolia fma. lineata, the striped-lip form of the common Small Round-leaf Orchis.  This form is in our opinion even more beautiful than the ordinary form.

We had seen the white form of the Western Fairy Slipper, Calypso bulbosa fma. nivea, once before, but we discovered this spring that that plant had been dug up and stolen.  We found several more locations for it, however, and are keeping the location a closely-guarded secret.  We also found a near-white form with only hints of color, what would probably be called a semi-alba form in the orchid world.  That location, too, we are keeping secret or sharing only with those we trust.

Finally, we were taken by another friend to see the yellow, unspotted form of the Western Spotted Coralroot, Corallorhiza maculata var. occidentalis fma. immaculata, a spectacular plant whose location will also remain undisclosed.  These, with new locations for many other species, with visits to many locations that we had visited before, and with all the other natural beauties we see on these excursions, made for a very profitable and interesting season.

One note: we found through a friend that one species reported from the Pacific Northwest, Wister's Coralroot, Corallorhiza wisteriana is not actually found there.  The original location, so we were informed, was in a garden where it had been transplanted from further east.  That leaves only two species from Washington that we have not seen, Listera convallarioides, the Broad-lipped Twayblade, and Spiranthes diluvialis, the Ute Ladies-tresses.

Twelfth Week of the Native Orchid Season (1) - Amerorchis, Platanthera, Cypripedium and Coeloglossum

June 23-29

This week we traveled to Edmonton to see our new granddaughter, born June 22nd.  We left early enough that we could make a number of stops on the way for some orchid hunting, three stops in all besides some unscheduled stops along the road to photograph the millions of Platantheras or Bog Orchis that are blooming there at this time of the year.

We went by way of the Yellowhead Highway through British Columbia, first north and then east through Mount Robson Provincial Park and then continuing east through Jasper National Park in Alberta and on to Edmonton.  From around Blue River, BC, through Robson and into Alberta there are areas where the various species of Platantheras are everywhere.

The most visible is the white-flowered Platanthera dilatata.  There are three varieties of this species distinguished by the length of the spur, but we found only one, variety dilatata, the Tall White Northern Bog Orchis, with the spur the same length as the lip, though we have seen one of the other varieties, variety albiflora, with a spur that is visibly shorter than the lip.

One of the green-flowered Bog Orchids, Platanthera stricta, the Slender Bog Orchis, was as common as it is insignificant.  It is not an exaggeration to say that there are millions of them growing in every low, wet area along the highway.  This species has very small flowers and even the fact that there may be a hundreds of them on a stem does not make the species very noteworthy.

We also some plants that looked like the hybrid of the two species above, Platanthera stricta and Platnathera dilatata.  The green Platantheras are so difficult to distinguish that I am never quite sure what I am seeing, but these, with their almost white flowers and long spur appeared to be the hybrid, the name of which is Platanthera xestesii, the "x" indicating that it is a natural hybrid.  Its common names is Estes Rein Orchis.

We also found many Platanthera huronensis, the Green Bog Orchis, though not as many as the previouys two species.  It is similar to Platanthera stricta and all of these green-flowered Platantheras are difficult to distinguish from one another.  Even after years of observing them I am still not always sure which species I am seeing since they intergrade.

At one of the locations we went to visit we found a number of the Small Round-leaf Orchis, Amerorchis rotundifolia.  We have seen this species by the thousands at higher elevations, but it was not nearly so abundant here and nearing the end of its blooming season.  We looked for but did not find any of the unusual color variations of this small but attractive species.

Growing in the same area as the Amerorchis we found the Large Yellow Lady's Slipper, Cypripedium parviflorum var. pubescens, hundreds of them.  Many of these were finished blooming but there were still some nice clumps and plenty of fresh flowers.  We noticed some color variation and variation in the shape of the pouch, but they were mostly uniform in plant and flower.

At another location we found one clump of the Small Northern Yellow Lady's Slipper, Cypripedium parviflorum var. makasin.  These flowers were tiny compared to the other variety and were also much more intensely colored.  Their small size and intense fragrance helped us identify them, though the two varieties intergrade and can be difficult to distinguish.

notice the Crab Spider on the front flower

Nearby we found Coeloglossum viride var. virescens, the Long-bracted Green Orchis.  This unusual species looks at first glance like a green-flowered Platanthera and often grows with them, but the flowers on closer inspection are very different.  This species has been reported from Washington, but I have never seen it there and know of no locations.

At a third location we found hundreds of Mountain Lady's Slippers, Cypripedium montanum.  These, too, were starting to show their age, but there were still plenty of fresh flowers and many more than we had ever seen at this location.  The color of the flowers ranged from greenish to a darker mahagony, though the greenish flowers were far more abundant.

That made for a total of ten species and varieties, not a bad haul for a day's orchid hunting, and there were other locations we did not have time for that we could have visited with the assurance of seeing at least three more species.  Perhaps on the way home, but lack of time will almost certainly be a factor later in the week and we may have to pass on several species.