The Olympics

 

 July14-16 we were in Olympic National Park for some hiking and sightseeing.  We visited a number of our favorite places including Ruby Beach, the Hoh Rainforest, Hurricane Ridge, Lake Crescent and Deer Park.  We did one shorter hike along the Hoh River and one longer hike along Lillian Ridge and down to Grant Lake.  It was not meant to be an orchid-hunting trip but we did find a number of orchids which I've posted here.

Epipactis gigantea (Chatterbox or Stream Orchid)

 

Piperia (Platanthera) elegans (Elegant Piperia)

Neottia banksiana (Northwestern Twayblade)

Piperia (Platanthera) unalascensis (Alaskan Piperia)

Platanthera dilatata var. dilatata (Tall White Northern Bog Orchis)

Platanthera dilatata var. leucostachys (Sierra Rein Orchis)

New Location for Epipactis gigantea

Having information from a friend who found the species there (he was along on the excursion) we visited Dry Falls State Park in central Washington to see Epipactis gigantea, the Stream Ochid.  Reputed to be rare in the state there were thousands of plants at two locations in the park, and though the flowers were just beginning to open we were able to get enough photos to prove that we had seen the species there.

 

Epipactis gigantea is an attractive species, always growing near water and often on the very edge of streams and lakes.  That was the case here also.  Sometimes the flowers are rather dull-colored but often they are the opposite, as the photos demonstrate.  It is also a rather large plant as native orchids go, and it is surprising that with its size and the number of plants it had not been previously reported from this location.

An Alien Species in Larrabee State Park

Friday, August 5, I visited Larrabee State Park south of Bellingham to see how the Broad-leaved Helleborines were doing.  Due, I suspect, to the dry summer we've had some were already finished and others were just starting to bloom and in one location there were very few to found, though they are usually abundant in that location.  Epipactis is not a New World native but comes from Europe.  It has, however, established itself across the USA and Canada.  Here are the photos I was able to take. 

Four Orchids in Sherman Pass

Traveling to eastern Washington, I did some hiking in the area of Sherman Pass in Colville National Forest.  I was looking for the Northern Twayblade, Neottia borealis, a plant I had seen many times in the Canadian Rockies and never here in Washington.  Using GPS coordinates given me by a friend, I found it at the peak of its bloom right along the trail, about a dozen plants and growing with it, the Early Coralroot, Corallorhiza trifida, though that was very nearly finished blooming.  Later, continuing my trip, I stopped along the road to photograph a large colony of the Stream Orchid, Epipactis gigantea, and some Sierra Rein Orchis, Platanthera dilatata var. leucostachys, growing with them.  The star of the show, though, was the Listera, a first for me in Washington.

Northern Twayblade

Neottia borealis

Early Coralroot

 Corallorhiza trifida

Stream Orchid

Epipactis gigantea

Sierra Rein Orchis

Platanthera dilatata var. leucostachys