A Native Orchid Tour of Washington

One of the highlights of the summer was an opportunity to show off some of our native orchids.  Friends from Germany were planning an extended trip to the USA and wanted an orchid tour of Washington as part of their trip, so all last winter we were making arrangements, they for the whole of their trip and I for the small part of their trip that involved me.  We agreed that we would spend three days together and I would show them as many of the native orchids as were in bloom.  In the end that amounted to 17 different species and varieties, almost half of our native orchids.

I met them in the Columbia River Gorge where we began by hiking at Dog Mountain.

There we saw:

1.  Piperia transversa (Flat-spurred Piperia)

just beginning to bloom and a species we would see again at Deception Pass

2.  Cephalanthera austiniae (Phantom Orchid)

this was one they particularly wanted to see

3.  Goodyera oblongifolia (Giant Rattlesnake Orchis)

not yet in bloom

4.  Corallorhiza striata var. vreelandii (Vreeland's Striped Coralroot)

a few plants at the end of their bloom season

5.  Corallorhiza maculata var. maculata fma. aurea (Spotted Coralroot)

the rare yellow-stemmed form of this species

6.  Corallorhiza maculata var. maculata fma. rubra (Spotted Coralroot)

the more common red-stemmed form of the species

From Dog Mountain we traveled to Catherine Creek, also in the Columbia gorge.

We went there to see:

7.  Spiranthes porrifolia (Western Ladies'-tresses)

very rare in Washington and at the peak of its bloom season

Leaving the gorge we traveled to Brooks Memorial State Park near Goldendale,

and saw:

8.  Piperia unalascensis (Alaskan Piperia)

we were looking for the Mountain Lady's Slipper but found this instead

Traveling further north we visited two sites in Blewett Pass, south of Leavenworth.

We camped a night there and also found:

9.  Cypripedium montanum (Mountain Lady's Slipper)

hundreds of these

10.  Platanthera dilatata var. dilatata (Tall White Northern Bog Orchis)

just starting to bloom

From eastern Washington we moved closer to home and visited Deception Pass on Whidbey Island,

where we found:

11.  Piperia elegans (Elegant Piperia)

already in bloom, though usually quite a bit later

At another site on Whidbey Island we found another species,

this time:

12.  Corallorhiza maculata var. ozettensis (Ozette Coralroot)

this was only just hanging on but an abundance of Indian Pipes made up for their scarceness

The third and last day of our trip we visited Goat Mountain in the North Cascades.

There we found:

13.  Corallorhiza mertensiana (Western Coralroot)

in bloom so late only at these higher altitudes

14.  Listera cordata var. nephrophylla (Western Heart-leaved Twayblade)

not a lot of them but enough to make a fair show

15.  Corallorhiza maculata var. occidentalis fma. intermedia (Western Spotted Coralroot)

only a couple of plants of this early-blooming variety

16.  Corallorhiza trifida (Early Coralroot)

this one familiar to our friends since it also grows in Europe

17.  Listera banksiana (Northwestern Twayblade)

after searching hard I finally found a couple of plants in bloom

We very much enjoy orchid hunting but it is even more exciting to be able to show someone else.
Martin has a blog of his own at which you can see some of the native orchids
of Germany and Europe, and some of these orchids as well.

http://www.lichtschnapper.de/blog/

Clayton Beach and Goose Rock

Monday, August 13th, was the first day of the Northwest Washington Fair, held here in our town, and a good day to be out of town.  My wife was babysitting the children of a friend who was working at the fair, and so I made the day's excursion on my own.

I went first to Larrabee State Park south of Bellingham in the Chuckanut Mountains and walked the Clayton Beach trail looking for the Broad-leaved Helleborine (Epipactis helleborine) which grows there along the railroad tracks that run through the park

This orchid is interesting in that it is not native to the United States or Canada but has established itself across the northern USA and southern Canada.  I've seen it on the east coast and in the sand dunes in western Michigan along Lake Michgan.

In Larrabee it would appear that the orchid has been distributed by the railway since it grows in the brush along the tracks and along the trail leading from the tracks.  How it could have been distributed by rail, I have no idea, but that is the only place it can be found.

I found both a very pale pink and green and a dark purple version, though the darker flowers were all past their prime.  There were also some, not yet open, that had no hint of coloring at all and I would like to check them later to see if they are the alba variety.

Some of the plants were short, less than 30 cm but others were quite tall, up to 120 cm.  Most were single stems though the plant can form large clumps.  I spent several hours photographing them before continuing to the beach where I took more photos, including some of a dead shark.

I also spent some time taking pictures of the Madrona trees (Arbutusa menziesii).  I am fascinated by their peeling bark (this is normal), colorful wood, and beautiful forms.  This tree is native to the west coast from British Columbia to Mexico, primarily in the northern parts of this area.

Leaving Clayton beach, I headed back north to Deception Pass, the narrow strait that separates Whidbey Island from Fidalgo Island and which is crossed by a high bridge.  Parking at the pass I hiked to the top of Goose Rock at the northern end of Whidbey Island.

Goose Rock is a wonderful place for native wildflowers and orchids with its granite balds, areas of exposed rock that support a unique and wonderful flora.  It is 484 feet and provides great view of the Straits of San Juan de Fuca, of the San Juan Islands, and of the Cascades.

The hike to the top is less than a mile but steep.  I found three native orchids, the Long-Spurred and Flat-spurred Piperias (only a few of the former) and huge clumps of the Giant Rattlesnake Orchis, a plant so common in this area that I usually do not bother to take pictures.

Long-spurred Piperia

Flat-spurred Piperia

Giant Rattlesnake Orchis

I also found a lot of Indian Pipes, a ghostly white saprophyte that grows on the forest floors, in one case the largest clump of these I had ever seen, and a very unusual fungus or mushroom that looked a bit like bakery rolls.  Finished, I headed back home and back to work.