Ten Orchid Species in Mount Robson Provincial Park

Calypso bulbosa var. americana

We backpacked in Mount Robson Provincial Park In British Columbia recently.  We went both for the scenery and the native orchids and were well satisfied with what we saw of both.  On the 23km hike to our campsite we found ten different orchids in bloom and saw several more that were not yet in bloom, a total of twelve, ten of which are featured in this post.  I posted them in the order we saw them, though we saw several species at different places along the trail.

Corallorhiza maculata var. maculata

Neottia borealis

Neottia cordata var. cordata

Neottia cordata var. cordata fma. viridens
 

Platanthera obtusata

Cypripedium parviflorum var. parviflorum
 

Galearis rotundifolia

Cypripedium passerinum

Galearis rotundifolia fma. lineata

Platanthera aquilonis

Corallorhiza trifida

Calypso bulbosa var. americana

Mount Robson and Berg Lake

The End of Another Season

Our 2016 native orchid season was considerably abbreviated by a trip to Australia, so we saw only a limited number of the species we usually visit and did not accomplish much of what we had intended for the season.  The high point was finding in Washington a species we had seen elsewhere but not in the state, Listera or Neottia borealis, the Northern Twayblade.  True to its name we found it in the northernmost parts of the state.

We also looked for and found again some rarities, particularly the natural hybrid of the two varieties of Fairy Slippers, the Eastern and Western Fairy Slippers, Kostiuk's Hybrid Fairy Slipper, Calypso bulbosa x kostiukiae, and the white form of the Western Fairy Slipper, Calypso bulbosa var. occidentalis fma. nivea.  Both of these were growing where we had found them previously and seemed well established in those locations.

We found some new sites for the Western Fairy Slipper and for the Early Coralroot, Corallorhiza trifida, the latter especially important since it is not common in the state of Washington.  These sites were on both sides of the Cascades and proof that the species is adaptable and quite widely distributed, though it is here near the southern end of its range, being much more common as one moves to the north. 

We missed a lot of species, however, and will have to look for some of them next year.  As always are plans are to look for new locations and to find in the state of Washington the species we have not yet seen there, especially Dactylorhiza viride var. virescens, the Long-bracted Green Orchis, and Platanthera obtusata var. obtusata, the Blunt-leaved Rein Orchis, and we have locations for both within the state.

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