Bog Candles (Platanthera dilatata)

This is the easiest of the Platantheras to identify on account of its pure white flowers and its sweet scent. Its white flowers make it more visible than some of the other species, and its scent perfumes the air wherever it grows.  It is very common, but always worth seeing.

We have found it on almost every hiking trip and along the roadsides in every mountainous area of the Pacific Northwest, often by the thousands. Along the Yellowhead Highway in the mountains of British Columbia, for example, we have seen it blooming mile after mile in every marshy spot.

There are three varieties of this species, distinguished by the length of the spur, which probably indicates different pollinators for each. Var. albiflora has a spur shorter than the lip, var. dilatata a spur the length of the lip and var. leucostachys, a spur much longer than the lip.

The plants can be quite short, around 20 cm, but are often much taller, around 100 cm. The 2 cm flowers are crowded along the length of the stems in large numbers, often over 100 flowers per plant. We have noticed that quite often the lip catches in the dorsal sepal so that the flower does not open completely.

There are several natural hybrids of this species and its varieties with P. stricta and sparsifolia.  These usually resemble P. dilatata, except for the flower color which is greenish, rather than pure white.  The only one of these natural hybrids that we've seen has been sufficiently different to warrant a separate post.

This species also ranges from Alaska across Canada and the northern United States as far south as Pennsylvania and Indiana, California and New Mexico. Varieties albiflora and leucostachys, however, are more limited in range, and can be found only in the western United States and Canada.

Variety albiflora

Variety dilatata

Variety leucostchys

Chamisso's Orchid (Platanthera chorisiana)

Platanthera chorisiana is one of the rarest orchids of the Northwest, and also one of the tiniest and hardest to find.  It grows in high altitude bogs and we had looked for it unsuccessfully in several reported locations in Washington and finally saw it for the first time on Vancouver Island.

The plants we saw were all near 15 cm tall with tiny green 3 mm flowers that do not open widely and are self-pollinating.  The plants had 6-12 flowers per spike and tiny spurs that were shorter in length than the flowers, but with the nectar visible inside.

They were always in slightly shady and drier locations, often on the raised ground around the base of a tree and on the north side of the tree,  They were almost always found as single plants and often were completely hidden by the other vegetation.

The plants generally had 2 or three leaves at the base of the plant and a slender flower spike, and seem always to be few in number.  The species ranges from Alaska through coastal British Columbia to Northern Washington and is also found in Asia.

Northern Green Bog Orchis (Platanthera aquilonis)

This is one of the green-flowered Platantheras, which I find incredibly hard to distinguish, both because many of the species are similar, but also because they interbreed and are, therefore found in many intermediate forms.

Platanthera aquilonis is one of the easier species to distinguish both because its lip is yellowish in color and because of its club-shaped spur. It is also one of the larger-flowered and more attractive species.

The individual flowers are less than 1 cm, but the plant, usually around 45 cm, bears many flowers, up to 60 per spike, and puts on a fair show as a result.

All the Platantheras have been and by some still are classified as Habenarias, and this species was once known not only as a Habenaria, but as H. hyperborea, now considered to be confined to Greenland.

We have not found this species as often as we have the other Platantheras, but when we've found it, it has been locally abundant, and always growing, as is the case with many in the genus, in marshy areas.

The plant ranges all across Canada and Alaska and across the northern United States as well and down into California and New Mexico.

Alaskan Piperia (Platanthera unalascensis)

This rather common and insignificant species is one we have seen only a few times.  It ranges from Alaska all across Canada and through most of the western and northern United States.  It is tall, up to 80 or 90 cm, but the flowers are tiny, though numerous, about a half a cm in size and numbering from 75-100 per spike.  They are a pale green color and are slightly fragrant, especially at night.

There is a miniature form (forma olympica) of this species that grows only on Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park in Washington.  This plant is only 15-25 cm tall with fewer flowers, is abundant in that one location.  Most of the following photos are of that particular plant, though the flowers are the same as the larger variety.  In either variety the plant has only a couple of leaves which have often disappeared by flowering time.

Flat-spurred Piperia (Platanthera transversa)

Platanthera transversa, the Flat-spurred Piperia is a smaller plant with small but unusual flowers.  It's name refers to the position rather than the shape of the spur, and as one writer says, it would better be called the "horizontal-spurred" Piperia.  The position of the spur is also the key to identifying this species which otherwise resembles the Long-spurred Piperia (Platanthera elongata) both in flower and plant size.

The plants grow to about 60 cm tall, though many of them are smaller, and the individual flowers are 1.5 cm to the tip of the spur.  The leaves, which lie close to the ground, are usually gone by flowering time, so that the flower spikes appear to belong to a  leafless plant.  The plant is native only to the Pacific Northwest and ranges from British Columbia to California.

The plant grows in open areas in woodlands often in very mossy areas, sometimes hidden by the surrounding vegetation, and is often found alongside the Giant Rattlesnake Orchis, Goodyera oblongifolia, though that plant blooms later.  The flower spikes where we have seen them are usually scattered, not in clumps, and the plant from in our area from mid-July into August.

The flowers are white with a greenish stripe down the center of the segments and the spur is also tipped with green.  The nectar is visible in the spurs when the flowers are examined closely, and the flowers are said to have a clove-like scent at night, though we have seen them only in the day-time and could detect no scent.  They can number up to 100 per spike.

Long-spurred Piperia (Platanthera elongata)

Not nearly as impressive as its big brother, the Elegant Piperia, the Long-spurred Piperia nevertheless has a charm of its own.  It is shorter than the Elegant Piperia, the plants we've seen reaching only about 50 cm.  The flowers, too, are smaller, and are green instead of white, though the spur is longer and much more impressive than in the larger species.

The individual flowers are less than .5 cm, but the spur is about 1.5 cm in length and though slightly curved, is much very visible, often making a kind of criss-cross pattern on the spike.  The flowers may number up to 75 or 80 per spike and are easily identified by the spur and by their green color.  They are supposed to be fragrant like the flowers of Platanthera elegans, but at night.

The plant has only a few leaves that have often disappeared by the time the plant flowers and that are almost unnoticeable when growing.  We've found it growing in very dry areas on a disturbed slope in and among brambles, sea grape and other low growing brush and found it both in shade and in full sun.  In shade the plants are quite a bit taller.

The plant is native to British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho and Montana, but is not common anywhere.  When we've found it, it has been fairly abundant in those locations, but we have only ever found it twice.  It also goes under the names Habenaria unalascensis ssp. elata and Piperia elongata.

Elegant Piperia (Platanthera elegans ssp. elegans)

Platanthera elegans, also known as Habenaria elegans and as Piperia maritima, is an impressive species, standing up to and over 100 cm tall with numerous small white flowers, as many as 75-80 per spike.

I well remember seeing this species for the first time in a shady area where its tall spikes stood out like glowing candles in the dim light. It is rightly named the "Elegant Piperia."

It is not common anywhere in its range which reaches from British Columbia to California and east into Idaho and Montana. It grows in sunny areas as well as shade but is a shorter and heavier plant in good light.

The individual flowers are a little less than 1 cm in size, though the spur is twice as long as the rest of the flower. It is said to be sweetly scented, but I have not been able to detect any scent when I've seen the species.

Like the other Platantheras once classified as Piperias this species has a few leaves close to the ground that have usually disappeared by the time the plant flowers.  The flower spikes, then, appear to be some sort of strange leafless plant, but in fact have already lost their leaves.