Sixteenth Orchid of the Season

This is another species reputed to grow in Washington but which we have not seen in the state and which, if it grows there, must be very rare in the state.  It is, however, very common further north.  While in Alaska we found a few plants in Kenai Fjords National Park along the Harding Icefields trail, very small examples of the species which can grow to several feet (60 cm).  There is a dwarf variety of the species but these are not that variety.  These are the much more common variety, var. virescens.  I learned the species as Coeloglossum viride var. virescens and it can be found in the literature under that name but it has recently been reclassified as Dactylorhiza viride var. virescens.  The species is known as the Long-bracted Green Orchis or the Frog Orchid, the latter in reference to the lip which resembles the back legs of a jumping frog.

Dactylorhiza viride var. virescens

Dactylorhiza viride var. virescens is supposed to be native to Washington but no one seems to know where it can be found.  It is, however, very common in the Canadian Rockies and it is there we see it when we are in British Columbia or Alberta.  It grows to 60 cm tall and the flowers are 2-3 cm in size.  At first glance it looks like one of the green Platantheras but the long, tongue-like lip is distinctive.  It is known both as the Long-bracted Green Orchis and as the Frog Orchid.  There is a smaller variety of the species with fewer flowers and shorter bracts that is found only much further north from Alaska to Newfoundland.

 July 8

(Canadian Rockies)

July 12

(Canadian Rockies)

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.