Finally Platanthera obtusta in Washington

Platanthera obtusata, the Blunt-leaved Rein Orchis, is very common in the Canadian Rockies and further north and we've seen it often, so often that we do not usually stop to photograph it.  It was, however, one of only two orchids native to Washington that we had not seen in the state.

We'd been given several sets of GPS coordinates by a friend and finally found the species in the Okanogan Highlands in north-central Washington in two locations.  We had to do some scrambling and bushwacking to see it, but found it at peak of bloom and were delighted to add it to our list.

In both cases it was growing on the edge of a bog, about twenty plants at each location.  We did not stay long for photos since the mosquitoes were thick and biting, but got enough photos to record the find, beautiful in the photos but in fact rather small and uninspiring and easily missed.

Fifteenth Orchid of the Season

This species is reputed to grow in Washington, in the northern counties east of the Cascades, but it is at the southern limit of its range there and we have not seen it in the state though we continue to look for it.  These were photographed in Alaska on a recent vacation trip there.  We saw them in several different locations in Kenai Fjords National Park and Denali National Park.  The species is small, less than a foot (30 cm) tall with whitish-green flowers.  It is easily recognizable by its single leaf at the base of the plant and it's rather oddly shaped flowers, which, though rather inconspicuous, are quite beautiful when observed closely.

Platanthera obtusata ssp. obtusata

Platanthera obtusata, ssp. obtusata, the Blunt-leafed Rein Orchis is found only in the far northeast corner of Washington but is very common further north and east.  It grows "in the mountains east of the coastal ranges south of Alaska."  The single "blunt" leaf is distinctive and with its flower spike the plant is only 35 cm tall.  The whitish-green flowers are 2 cm and resemble a long-tailed bird in flight.  It is not a striking species but has a quiet beauty all its own.

July 8

(Canadian Rockies)

July 10

(Canadian Rockies)

Platanthera obtusata along the Berg Lake Trail

Hiking the Berg Lake Trail in Mount Robson Provincial Park in British Columbia on Monday, July 11, this was one of the native orchid species I was especially looking for.  I had wanted to get better photos than those I had in my files and was delighted to find them everywhere.

There were a few plants along the lower end of the trail, but they were everywhere in the woods on the east side of Kinney Lake, often single plants but sometimes in large clumps.  They are immediately recognizable by the single, ground-hugging, glossy leaf and the distinctive white and green flowers.

These are the larger flowered sub-species obtusata.  There is a few-flowered, smaller sub-species that grows only in Alaska.  This subspecies grows in woodland areas, usually in mossy, well-drained locations along the trails and even on top of rocks and old logs.

I've described them in more detail in a previous post: http://nativeorchidsofthepacificnorthwest.blogspot.com/2011/03/blunt-leafed-rein-orchis-platanthera.html.

Blunt-leafed Rein Orchis (Platanthera obtusata subsp. obtusata)

This is one of the easier Platantheras to identify since its 1 cm flowers are whitish in color and of a different shape from P. dilatata, aquilonis, huronensis, stricta and such species.  It is also much smaller in plant size, rarely more than 30 cm tall.

It can also be identified by the fact that it has only one leaf near the base of the plant and by the fact that it is often found in woodlands rather than open marshy areas.  There is a smaller, fewer-flowered subspecies, but that is confined to northern Alaska and Eurasia.

The species is found across Canada and in the United States only in Alaska, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Colorado, Massachusetts, and the upper Great Lakes region.  It increases in numbers the farther north one traces it, being rare in the southern parts of its range.