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)

Coeloglossum viride near Maligne Lake

Driving up the Maligne Lake Road in Jasper Park in Alberta watching both for wildlife and for wildflowers, we stopped near a steep bank to take pictures of the Wood Lilies which were especially abundant in that location.  While photographing the lilies and stepping carefully through a rather wet and boggy area we noticed some green flowered native orchids and made sure we identified them also.

They were both plants we had seen earlier in the day and in a number of locations, Platanthera huronensis and Piperia unalascensis.and though we took pictures were not that excited about finding them.  among them, however, was one plant which at first appeared to be another P. unalascensis with flwoers that were going past, though something about them caught my eye.

One closer inspection it became clear that they were a native orchid we had not seen before and using our guide we soon identified it as the Long-bracted Green Orchis, Coeloglossum viride var. virescens.  The plants were more of a yellow-green color, the leaves were glossier and the flowers more cupped and crowded on the spike than the other species we had seen.

The most unusual feature and the clue to what these were was the long tongue-like lip with the notch at the end.  On the first spike this lip had turned black on most of the flowers and we still did not realize what we were seeing until we looked at one of the few good flowers under a magnifying glass.  Only then was it really clear that we were seeing something new.

We were quite excited about finding them, and  as as we walked along the bank further up the road began to see more and more of them, most growing up the bank a little ways and some in the shade of the surrounding shrubbery.  In all we found about three dozen plants, some nearly finished flowering and others just beginning to open, but all clearly different from anything else we had seen.

We not only took pictures that evening but drove back up the following morning and took more pictures in the early light with the dew still on the plants.

Long-bracted Green Orchis (Dactylorhiza viride var. virescens)

The Long-bracted Green Orchis is named for the bracts under each flower which are longer than the flowers and give the flower spikes a rather feathery appearance.  The genus is found around the world in the Northern Hemisphere and has only the one species, though there are several varieties, two of them found in the Pacific Northwest, though one only in very limited alpine areas.

This variety is the more common in North America (the other is found only in Alaska, but is very common in Europe and Asia).  It is considered "rare to local" in the areas where it can be found, but this may be due in part to the fact that unless seen close-up, it resembles many of the green-flowered Platantheras, and when we found it was actually growing among them.

We had stopped along the road to take pictures of a field of Wood Lilies and had seen some Platanthera huronensis and Piperia unalascensis growing nearby.  Only when we looked closely did we notice the Dactylorhizas growing among them.  Interestingly, the other species were found in a wet area at the foot of the bank while the Dactylorhizas tended to grow a little up the bank and drier.

The long distinctively notched lip makes this species immediately recognizable.  The flowers are green and the flower parts form a sort of hood above the lip.  The flowers were quite closely arranged on the spikes and in the case of the plants we saw had about thirty flowers per spike.  The plants were about 10-25 cm in height and the flowers about 1.5 cm long.

The species ranges from Alaska to Newfoundland and south to Washington, New Mexico, Iowa and North Carolina.  We found it in Alberta in Jasper National Park along the Maligne Lake Road in July, though the information we have indicates that the flowers appear to be perfect long after they have been pollinated and that certainly appeared to be case on some flower spikes.

Note (2017): this species has recently been reclassified as Dactylorhiza and the information in the post has been changed accordingly.