Some native orchids of the Pacific Northwest (Washington state) — 2019-06-24 thru 2019-06-30

The last week of June, 2019 usually finds us preparing for the celebration of the independence from that tyrant, King George III of England. However, this year, I spent the week in the Pacific Northwest (Washington state) with Walter Ezell and my son, Dylan Fowler (40-something geologist and mountain climber). Back-story: A couple of years ago, Dylan discovered mountain climbing, in particular, the obsession of climbing many of the high points in every state of the United States. This year, he chose Washington state to try his luck on the 8,000-foot (~2,500-meter) Mt. Olympus in the Olympic National Forest before attempting something so difficult as 14,410-foot (~4,400-meter) Mt. Rainier, an active volcano and the most glaciated peak in the continental U.S. In order to hone his climbing skills, he wanted to climb some of the lesser peaks, including Mt. St. Helens and a few others in the area, so he invited Walter and me to join him in scouting out the geography. Making sure he understood that we had absolutely no interest in joining him on his treacherous assault of the Olympic Mountains, we agreed to the trip if we could spend a bit of time searching for the native orchids and other wildflowers found in the area. He agreed, and we set a date for the trip.

Considering that the main purpose of the trip was to spend time together (bonding experience) and to see the Pacific Northwest at its best, we were fairly successful in our orchid search. Here is a list of the native orchid species we photographed in bud or in bloom:

• Platanthera huronensis — Tall Northern Bog orchid
• Platanthera dilatata var. dilatata — Tall White Bog orchid
• Platanthera stricta — Slender Bog orchid
• Corallorhiza maculata var. ozettensis — Ozette Coralroot orchid
• Corallorhiza mertensiana — Mertens’ Coralroot orchid
• Goodyera oblongifolia (in bud, only) — Giant Rattlesnake orchid

Below is an image collage of those orchids in order, left to right, top to bottom:

Northwest orchid species

We also managed to locate two other native orchid species: Corallorhiza maculata var. maculata or Spotted Coralroot orchid and Neottia (Listera) convallarioides or Broad-lipped Twayblade orchid, but both were in seed, only, and I did not photograph them.

Our first day out there, we visited Hurricane Ridge Road leading up to a viewing site of the Olympic Mountain Range. On the way up, we saw numerous colorful wildflowers (to be detailed in a later blog post) as well as two species of native orchids: Platanthera huronensis or Tall Green Bog orchid and Platanthera dilatata var. dilatata or White Bog orchid. The Tall Green Bog orchid was the first I spotted and yelled, “Stop!!!” to Dylan, the driver. They were growing in a sloping seep in a roadside meadow. Here is a shot of me photographing them. Thankfully, Dylan was photographing Walter and me while we photographed the orchids on this trip. That’s something I usually forget to do:

I know that they don’t look very “tall”, but that might be due to the high elevation of the site. Here are a few more close-up shots of these orchids:

I even spotted one with light green flowers, which might be a hybrid between the Tall Green Bog orchid and the White Bog orchid, which grew fairly close by:

Speaking of the White Bog orchid, here are some shots of the plants we saw on another nearby wet hillside:

On the second day of our trip, we visited a site which had been provided to me by another orchidophile who lives in Washington, but who couldn’t meet up with us because her baby was imminently due. Turns out, she gave birth the next day! The site is on the Makah Indian Reservation near Neah Bay. There is a nature trail that leads out to a peninsula which is surrounded by rocky sea stacks (more to come). The target orchid is Corallorhiza maculata var. ozettensis or Ozette Coralroot orchid. This is an orchid species which I’ve read much about, but had no idea that I would ever be able to photograph. It was discovered in 1967 and fully described in 2001. It has a very small range, being found only in the extreme northwestern part of Washington state. So I felt fortunate that we were able to see and photograph it. Here are some images of this orchid species:

The following images should provide an idea of the habitat — open woods under Picea sitchensis or Sitka Spruce:

On our fifth day of the trip, we made our way to Mt. Rainier in Rainier National Park. On the way up to the visitor center, we passed by Box Canyon overlook which had an interesting looking nature trail across from the parking lot. We piled out of the rental vehicle, gathered our gear and headed up the trail. Within just a few steps, I spotted a group of orchids which I recognized as Goodyera oblongifolia or Giant Rattlesnake Plantain orchid. Unfortunately, they were only in spike and about 10 days to 2 weeks from blooming. The foliage of the Goodyera species is quite attractive and variable in leaf pattern (as you will see later), so I photographed some of the plants:

As we made our way around the area, Dylan (our driver) was on the lookout for any areas that looked “orchidy”. That’s a new term for him, but he quickly picked up on the characteristics (seeps, wet ditches, open woods under spruce) and spotted a promising site just next to the highway. The orchids he spotted were Platanthera huronensis or Tall Green Bog orchid, one that we had already photographed a couple of days earlier. However, I never pass up an opportunity to photograph orchids, so we stopped and got right to it:

As we made our way out of the park, Dylan found another good roadside spot. Turns out, it provided habitat for an orchid species which I had never photographed — Platanthera stricta or Slender Bog orchid. There were several dozen plants situated along a wet ditch, but required that we get our feet wet and muddy. That never stopped me, so I quickly set up my trusty tripod and began photographing. Here is a shot taken by Dylan of Walter and me photographing two plants that were growing within inches of each other:

Here are some additional shots of this orchid species. Note that one distinguishing characteristic is the leaves are found protruding at nearly 90 degrees from the stem:

On our last day, we visited North Cascades National Park. We had hoped for good enough weather for some great views, but it seemed to be constantly cloudy everywhere we went. As we were driving through the park, we spotted a nature trail that looked promising — open woods under the shade of Sitka Spruce. So we stopped and gathered our gear. Just as we entered the trail, I spotted a large group of another orchid species which I had never photographed — Corallorhiza mertensiana or Mertens’ Coralroot orchid. I was super excited but soon realized that the orchids had reached their peak about a week earlier and were now forming seed capsules. But, we managed to find a couple of plants with a few flowers in pretty good shape. Dylan spent a good bit of time surveying the area while Walter and I were photographing the plants. Here are a few shots of these colorful orchids:

Just before leaving the location, I found a Goodyera oblongifolia var. reticulata or Giant Rattlesnake Plantain orchid with a beautiful leaf pattern:

We had a great time on this trip, and I manage to photograph several orchid species that were new to me. That’s always a good thing, right?.

Coming up soon, I will post a couple of blog reports detailing many of the colorful wildflowers and some of the spectacular scenery of the Northwest. There is so much to see that I’m certain I will visit this area again.

Stay tuned…

–Jim