Two Orchids at Baker Lake

 

In July we went on an overnight backpacking trip with our oldest daughter to Baker Lake in western Washington.  It was a very wet trip and was not meant to be an orchid-hunting trip but we did find two orchids, Corallorhiza mertensiana, the Western Coralroot, shown above and below, and Neottia cordata var. nephrophylla, the Western Heart-leaved Twayblade, shown at bottom.

Three Orchids along the Thunder Creek Trail

Saturday, May 21, was a hike at Thunder Creek with the Washington Native Orchid Society.  We went to see the Western Fairy Slippers, Calypso bulbosa var. occidentalis, but they were all finished.  We found two Twayblades, the Northwestern Twayblade, Neottia banksiana, also known as Neottia caurina, and the Heart-leaved Twayblade, Neottia cordata var. cordata, but it was nearly finished blooming.  The star of the show was the Western or Merten's Coralroot, Corallorhiza mertensiana, which we saw in a variety of colors including some very pale forms.  Actually we saw a fourth orchid as well, the Western Spotted Coralroot, Corallorhiza maculata var. occidentalis, but we were near the end of the hike and the battery in my camera was dead, so I did not get pictures.

Northwestern Twayblade

Neottia banksiana (caurina)

Heart-leaved Twayblade

Neottia cordata var. cordata

Western Coralroot

Corallorhiza mertensiana

Western Coralroot (pale form)

Corallorhiza mertensiana fma. pallida

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