RHH's photos with the keyword: romanzoffiana

These are a few more photos from the northwest quadrant of the lower loop of the main Yellowstone National Park road, this of an orchid, Hooded Ladies' Tresses growing on the side of the Gibbon River. The other photos are of hot springs, Terrace Springs, not far north of the west entrance road and right along the road.

Yellowstone National Park has everything, even orchids. This example of Hooded Ladies' Tresses was photographed around the hot springs of the Fountain Paint Pots area of Yellowstone. It like wet areas and seems to like the warm waters of the hot springs especially. Fountain Paint Pots is an area of thermal activity on the west side of the lower loop of Yellowstone's main road between Gibbon Falls and Norris Junction. We are continuing our tour of Yellowstone and have arrived at the Paint Pots, but some flowers from that area before the Paint Pots themselves. The flowers were photographed at different times of the year and on different trips to Yellowstone.

These orchids, Hooded Ladies' Tresses, Spiranthes romanzoffiana, were photographed along the trails in the Artist's Paint Pots area of Yellowstone National Park. They are very common in wet areas in the park. On another note, my time on line will be limited the next few weeks since we are moving across the state of Washington to the Spokane area. We'll be busy unpacking and getting our new house ready during that time.

Spiranthes romanzoffiana, the Hooded Ladies'-tresses, is one of three Ladies'-tresses found in the state of Washington. The other two are very rare, but this species is quite common. We photographed it at about 5000 feet of elevation along the North Cascades Highway in an open field where it grows by the thousands. It prefers a wet environment but we have found it growing in drier areas as well.

Taken early in the day on our trip to Rainier, this is the Hooded Ladies'-tresses, Spiranthes romanzoffiana, photographed near Longmire and on the Trail of the Shadows.

On August 22 and 23 we made a trip to Mount Rainier National Park. The weather could have been a bit better, but we have a wonderful time as we usually do and found plenty to photograph. We left very early and were in the park by dawn, coming in the from west. We made a brief stop at Kautz Creek and another at Longmire, but my wife stayed in the car and slept at both stops. At the second stop near the Longmire visitor's center and at the beginning oif the Trail of the Shadows I found quite a few of these native orchids, Spiranthes romanzoffiana, the Hooded Ladies'-tresses, blooming.

Another photo of Spiranthes romanzoffiana, Hooded Ladies'-tresses, one of our native orchids. The photo was taken very early in the morning near the Diablo Lake Overlook on North Cascades Highway. Most of the plants were finished flowering at this site when we visited in early August but there were a few decent shots to be had. My wife stayed in the car and slept while I took this and other shots. Further up the mountains the flowers were not as far along and were covered with dew but here it was dry.

I photographed this near Diablo Lake in North Cascades National Park on a trip through the park in early August. The flowers are the Hooded Ladies'-tresses, Spiranthes romanzoffiana. I've submitted the insect to BugGuide.net for identification and it has been suggested that this is a Stilt Bug nymph from the genus Berytidae.

This is another close-up photo of the Ladies'-tresses, Spiranthes romanzoffiana, we photographed last August near Rainy Pass on the North Cascades Highway. There are three Ladies'-tresses in Washington but the other two are very rare.

In early August (that's how far behind I am with posting pictures) we made one of our many trips across the North Cascades to the Spokane area. We left early in the morning and as dawn was breaking made our first stop in North Cascades National Park near Diablo Lake Overlook to photographed the Ladies'-tresses there. To our disappointment they were nearly finished, the result of a hot dry summer. Further up the mountains, however, near Rainy Pass, we found more of them in prime condition and stopped to take photos before continuing on our way to eastern Washington. The story of our trip and photos can be found at the link below. The Hooded Ladies'-tresses, Spiranthes romanzoffiana, in one of three species in that genus to be found in the state of Washington, this one very common and the other two very rare. It is a small plant, often under six inches tall and seldom more than a foot tall and flower that vary from off-white to cream. A closer look at the flowers is given below in an older picture. It is one of the last of our native orchids to bloom and loves wet sunny meadows. It gets the name "Ladies'tresses from the braided appearance of the flower spikes.

Hooded Ladies'-tresses, Spiranthes romanzoffiana, like wet meadows and that is where we found these, in as wet meadow along the Madison River in Yellowstone National Park. In fact we found them in several of the geyser basins as well and along the Gibbon River. The common name, Ladies'-tresses, refers to the braided appearance of the flower spikes, not very evident in this picture.

These were photographed at Muddy Meadows on the north side of Mount Adams. We had been looking for the related but rarer species, the Northern Ladies'-Tresses (Spiranthes porrifolia), which we did not find, but did find this species. Published in the April, 2011, issue of Orchids, the magazine of the American Orchid Society, in an article titled, "Taking Aim."

These orchids are named Ladies-Tresses on account of the arrangement of the flowers which spiral around the stem giving a braided look to the flower spikes.

A close-up of these jewel-like flowers. Photographed at Muddy Meadows in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest near Mount Adams.

This is an older photo taken in the Muddy Meadows area of Mount Adams. Spiranthes romanzoffiana, the Hooded Ladies' Tresses, is named for the braided appearance of the flower spike. These will soon be in bloom in the areas where they can be found. They are less than a foot tall and so are easily missed, but are lovely at close range. nativeorchidsofthepacificnorthwest.blogspot.com/2011/04/h...

We traveled cross-country two weeks ago to spend some time with our children. On the way we visited Yellowstone National Park and the pictures I've posted are all from there. In a number of locations, along the Madison River, in the Fountain Paint Pots area and along the Gibbon River we found this orchid species blooming. It and the related species are referred to as Ladies' Tresses because of the braided appearance of the flower spikes. The plant grows about 6-8 inches tall and is usually found in wetter areas. Its scientific name is Spiranthes romanzoffiana. nativeorchidsofthepacificnorthwest.blogspot.com/2011/04/h...

This is another photo from Lake Elizabeth, this time of one of our native orchids, the Hooded Ladies' Tresses, Spiranthese romanzoffiana. The braided appearance of the flower spikes is the reason for the name "Ladies' Tresses" and these flowers are also distinctly "hooded." The plant flowers late in the summer and there were an abundance of them at Lake Elizabeth this past summer, though I've been told that in other years they are hard to find. nativeorchidsofthepacificnorthwest.blogspot.com/2012/09/c...

This clump of Hooded Ladies' Tresses was photographed in situ at Lake Elizabeth. They bloom late in the summer and like wetter but exposed areas. nativeorchidsofthepacificnorthwest.blogspot.com/2012/09/c...