ab_orchid's Favorites

Another of the SPURLESS Platanthera that we see frequently in the BC Peace River region, it resembles P. aquilonis except for the lack of spur and how the lip petal widens abruptly at the base (well, from a non-orchid expert's point-of-view, anyway that is what I see as different :-)

The lip petal is naturally curled up so to show the inside of the flower I had to break the lip to make it stay open to photograph.

The flowers always have a scent in life, I'd call it sweet but not pleasant (to me it's a bit gross-sweet but I can't describe it).

This is a rather small plant, but the area it's in was cleared last winter.

Collected for UBC.

"Piperia" is a former Genus name within the orchid family Orchidaceae that has since been renamed "Platanthera" on I-Naturalist. Jepson eFlora, and all the other references listed below, still list the Genus as "Piperia"

The first annual Yadon's Rein-orchid leaves have emerged from underground tubers. I stopped counting after 100+ plants! This small Monterey Pine forest area is protected by a wooden fence enclosure between Monterey Pines RV Park and the golf course. The orchids are easily seen from outside the fence. Green basal leaves appear early Jan-Feb. Stalks, then small white flowers will appear in a few months. Peak bloom time: June-July.

Yadon's Rein-orchid. A federally endangered Callifornia native/endemic orchid that grows in two threatened plant communities--the Monterey Pine Forest and in Maritime Chaparral between north Monterey County and Palo Colorado Canyon on the Big Sur coast.

Yadon's Rein-orchid is a tall (6-8 inches), slender, "pencil-thin" plant with congested white flowers. It is similar to Elegant Rein-orchid (Piperia elegans) but it differs in its diminutive white-rimmed, green lateral petals, and the short spur, which is much shorter than those of other Rein-orchids. One unique feature of this Rein-orchid is the way the upper petals generally curve inwards like a horseshoe.

Plants of Monterey County: an Illustrated Field Key, 2nd ed., Matthews and Mitchell, pp. 330-331.

Monterey Pine Forest: Coastal California's Living Legacy, 2nd. ed., 2018, pp. 60, 64, 79.

Flora of Fort Ord: Monterey County, California, David Styer, 2019, p.227.

Jepson eFlora https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=38361

Monterey County Wildflowers: a Field Guide, Yeager and Mitchell, p. 243.

Monterey County Wildflowers https://montereywildflowers.com/orchidaceae-piperia/