Orchid Hunting in the Cascades

 

We made a long trip through Washington, Oregon and northern California recently, and spent some time orchid hunting.  We looked for and found seven orchids in Washington, Epipactis gigantea, the Stream Orchid or Chatterbox, so named for its love of lake and stream sides and for its hinged lip, which moves in the breeze, and Cypripedium montanum, the Mountain Lady's Slipper.  The Epipactis, though rare in Washington, we found by the thousands in the location we visited.  The Lady's Slipper was also abundant and we found both the very dark form with the purple-stained lip (fma. welchii) and the albino form (fma. praetertinctum).  In the same place we found the Mountain Lady's Slippers we also found Platanthera unalascensis, the Alaskan Piperia.  At a third location we found Platanthera dilatata, the Bog Candle, and at a fifth location Cephalanthera austiniae, the Phantom Orchid and Corallorhiza maculata, the Spotted Coralroot, both red-stemmed and yellow stemmed varieties, along with a few stems of Corallorhiza striata, the striped Coralroot, both the ordinary variety and the smaller-flowered var. vreedlandii.

Epipactis gigantea

Stream Orchid

Cypripedium montanum

Mountain Lady's Slipper

Cypripedium montanum fma. welchii

Mountain Lady's Slipper, purple-marked lip

 

Cypripedium montanum fma. praetertinctum

Mountain Lady's Slipper, albino form

 

 

 

 

Platanthera dilatata var. dilatata

 Bog Candle

 

Platanthera unalascensis
Alaskan Piperia

 

Cephalanthera austiniae
Phantom Orchid

Corallorhiza maculata var. maculata
Spotted Coralroot

Corallorhiza maculata var. maculata fma. flavida

Spotted Coralroot, yellow-stemmed form

 

 

Corallorhiza striata var. striata
Striped Coralroot

and

Corallorhiza striata var. vreelandii

Vreeland's Coralroot

 

Three Coralroots on Whidbey Island

I was out on Monday, May 16th, to do some wildflower and orchid photography on Whidbey Island.  I went first to Fort Casey State Park to photograph the Golden Paintbrush (Castilleja levisecta) there.  This beautiful Paintbrush is found in only eight locations in Washington and though originally native to Oregon and British Columbia has been extirpated in both areas, though some efforts are being make to reintroduce it.

Finished at Fort Casey State Park, I visited several other locations and found the Spotted Coralroot near the end of its bloom season at one location.  The Spotted Coralroot (Corallorhiza maculata var. maculata) is found across the USA and Canada and differs from the Western Spotted Coralroot (Corallorhiza maculata var. occidentalis) in its broader range, generally smaller and more cupped flowers and later blooming period.

Corallorhiza maculata var. maculata

Corallorhiza maculata var. maculata fma. rubra

(red-stemmed form)

At the same location I found the Ozette Coralroot (Corallorhiza maculata var. ozettensis) just starting to bloom.  This unusual and unspotted variety of the Spotted Coralroot was originally found on the Olympic Peninsula but has been found since at different locations on Whidbey Island, in eastern Washington, in Oregon and in British Columbia and on Vancouver Island.  Wherever found it is quite uniform in color and shape.

Corallorhiza maculata var. ozettensis

Finished there I went on to a third location to see if the Western or Merten's Coralroot (Corallorhiza mertensiana) was blooming.  It was blooming and seemed to be everywhere this year and in every possible color combination (notice the different color stems and flowers and the different patterning in the photos).  Though the other Coralroots have been spare this year this species was blooming by the thousands in a very small area.

Corallorhiza mertensiana

Corallorhiza mertensiana fma. pallida