Flat-spurred Piperia

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.