RHH's photos with the keyword: piperia

This is a native orchid that we have seen many times, but this was photographed in the fields near our house. It is the Long-spurred Piperia, Piperia or Platanthera elongata. I've posted it as part of series of photos of plants, birds, insects and wildlife that we've photographed in the area around our home

This is a native orchid that we have seen many times, but this was photographed in the fields near our house. It is the Long-spurred Piperia, Piperia or Platanthera elongata. I've posted it as part of series of photos of plants, birds, insects and wildlife that we've photographed in the area around our home

This is a native orchid that we have seen many times, but this was photographed in the fields near our house. It is the Long-spurred Piperia, Piperia or Platanthera elongata. I've posted it as part of series of photos of plants, birds, insects and wildlife that we've photographed in the area around our home. The inset photos show it growing in the brush and show a close-up of the flowers.

There are five species in the genus Piperia that can be found in Washington. They all have green to white flowers and in most, including this, the flowers are quite small. Not only are the flowers small in this case, however, but by the time the plant blooms the leaves have withered, so all one sees is a stem, about twelve inches tall, with these green and white flowers. This is the Flat-spurred Piperia, so-called not for the shape of its spur but for the fact that spur is at a ninety degree angle to the stem. Its botanical name is Piperia transversa. These were photographed at Dog Mountain in the Columbia River gorge. Towards the end of June I had the privilege of taking friends, a couple from Germany, on an three-day orchid tour of Washington. We started in the Columbia Gorge where I met them, worked out way up through eastern Washington and ended at several sites in western Washington, including Goat Mountain and Whidbey Island. We saw 15 species of orchids, a bit less than half of our native species and a very good number for any time of the year.

This is another native orchid from our trip to Olympic National Park last summer. We had looked for these in one location but they were finished blooming there. A day later we found them everywhere along the Deer Park Road. This is Piperia candida, the Slender White Piperia, which is found along the Pacific Northwest Coast from Alaska to California. It grows to about two feet tall (60cm) and the flowers are a quarter of an inch in size (5mm). The leaves which lie along the ground are usually withered and gone by the time the plant flowers, so all one finds is a tall, slender flower spike.

Only a few more pictures to post from the Olympics. This is the view north from Hurrican Ridge (looking back toward Puget Sound and the Straits of San Juan). Some of the wildflowers for which this area is notable are visible in the foreground, including the miniature variety of Piperia unalascensis, the Alaskan Piperia. The picture was taken by my wife late in the day.

I took this picture to show the dwarf form of the Alaskan Piperia (Piperia unalascensis fma. olympica) - the light green flower spikes - in its habitat on Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park. I am not entirely happy with the picture for obvious reasons. The other wildflowers in the picture are some I've posted recently, the bluish-purple a Lupine, probably the Subalpine Lupine, the red-orange the Harsh Paintbrush, the white cylindrical heads of flowers the Western Bistort with a dwarf Columbia Lily in the upper left of the picture.

The Alaskan Piperia, Piperia unalascensis, is a common and not very showy native orchid that is found along the Pacific Coast and across the northern USA and Canada. The plant can be quite tall, nearly three feet (80+ cm) but the flowers are tiny, around a 1/4 inch (5-7 mm). There is a dwarf form of this plant that grows on Hurricane Ridge in the Olympic Mountains that is less than a foot tall (30cm) and these flowers were photographed there.

This was the third orchid we found on our trip to the Olympics, the Long-spurred Piperia, Piperia elongata. We found many of these along the Humes Ranch trail in the Elwha Valley, an area of Olympic National Park we had not hiked before. These flower spikes are a a foot to a foot and a half tall (30-45cm) and by the time the flowers open the leaves at the base of the plant have withered away leaving the flower spike standing alone.

July 31 and August 1, 2013, we were in Olympic National Park orchid hunting. Our first stop was in the area of Crescent Lake where we looked for an found two orchids including this one, the Elegant Piperia (Piperia elegans). One one of the several plants we found there was a crab spider lurking among the flowers. He had taken on the color of the stems and we probably would not have noticed him if he had not moved, but here he is. The Elegant Piperia, the orchid, can be around three feet tall (100cm) and in this location grows very tall. The individual flowers, however, are only about a quarter of an inch (8mm). I've submitted a picture of the spider to BugGuide.net for identification and the spider has been identified there as the Flower Spider, Misumena vatia.

Here finally is a new photo, this one of Piperia elongata, one of our native orchids and one found only here in the Pacific Northwest. The plant is named for the flowers' long spur or nectary, with the green color of the flowers a distinguishing feature of this species. It was photographed on Goose Rock near Deception Pass where we found two other species of Piperia blooming at the same time and often together. The plant grows up to two feet (60 cm) tall and the flowers with the spur are over an inch long (3 cm). The plant's leaves have withered by the time it blooms. nativeorchidsofthepacificnorthwest.blogspot.com/2013/08/seventeenth-week-of-native-orchid.html

This orchid was photographed in Olympic National Park at East Beach on Crescent Lake. It was one of the last native orchids to bloom during the summer.

Piperia 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 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. This plant was photographed near Crescent Lake in Olympic National Park, Washington. nativeorchidsofthepacificnorthwest.blogspot.com/2010/12/e... This was published in the April, 2011, issue of Orchids, the magazine of the American Orchid Society, in an article titled "Taking Aim."

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. This 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. nativeorchidsofthepacificnorthwest.blogspot.com/2011/01/a...

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 Piperia 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. This plant was photographed near Fort Ebey, Whidbey Island, Washington. nativeorchidsofthepacificnorthwest.blogspot.com/2010/12/l...

This is the Flat-spurred Piperia, the name referring more to the position of the spur rather than its shape. The plant is about a foot tall and the flowers approximately an inch long. These were photographed in Washington Park near Anacortes. nativeorchidsofthepacificnorthwest.blogspot.com/2011/07/f...

On our recent trip to the Olympics we went to see some of the native orchids that were blooming in the park, especially the Piperias. This is Piperia elegans, the Elegant Piperia, and was photographed by East Beach near Crescent Lake in the north part of Olympic National Park. nativeorchidsofthepacificnorthwest.blogspot.com/2011/09/f... ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2011/09/olympic-nat...

We found this orchid also along the Old Blewett Road, but it is certainly not as showy as the Platanthera I've already posted. This has tiny green flowers on long slender stems. It's botanical name is Piperia unalascensis. The photo was taken by my wife. nativeorchidsofthepacificnorthwest.blogspot.com/2012/07/w...