Native Orchids - Eastern Washington

Photographed in Blewett Pass in the North Cascades, this is the Mountain Lady's Slipper, Cypripedium montanum, one of Washington's native orchids and the most common of its three Lady's Slippers.

The Fairy Slipper is Washington's most well-known orchid, but few know that we have two varieties of this orchid, the Eastern Fairy Slipper, shown here, with a yellow "beard", and the Western Fairy Slipper with a white "beard". This example was photographed in north-central Washington and the hair-like decoration is a wisp of lichen that has fallen on the flower and which I did not bother to remove.

We are at a youth camp and I do not have many of my photos available so am posting a few more of the orchids we saw in Washington on our recent trip through that state and Oregon and California. This is one more photo of a Mountain Lady's Slipper photographed in Blewett Pass south of Leavenworth, Washington.

When we hiked in the Columbia River Gorge we were looking for Phantom Orchids but also for these and other Coralroots. The Striped Coralroots were nearly finished but we found a few still blooming.

Coralroots are strange plants lacking both leaves and chlorophyll. As a result they often grow in dark forests where nothing else will grow. These Spotted Coralroots were photographed in a forest along the Columbia River. They have yellow stems but the species is variable and often has red, brown, pink or even white stems.

The Phantom Orchid, Cephalanthera austiniae, is the only species of the genus in North America (Europe has numerous species). It is found along the west coast of North America from California to British Columbia and unlike its European cousins is leafless and without chlorophyll, depending on a symbiotic relationship with a fungus to obtain nutrients from decaying organic matter. Because it has no chlorophyll it is often found on dark forest floors where little else is growing and where it stands out dramatically. Traveling along the Columbia River we hiked in the area of Dog Mountain and went to see these especially where they were growing with various Coralroots, also leafless and without chlorophyll. It was a very windy day and in taking pictures we had to contend not only with the wind but with the poor light in which these were growing. In many parts of their range they are rare, British Columbia having but a couple of closely monitored locations, but they are not rare in the Columbia River gorge or in California and we would see them again as traveled south.

The Phantom Orchid, Cephalanthera austiniae, is the only species of the genus in North America (Europe has numerous species). It is found along the west coast of North America from California to British Columbia and unlike its European cousins is leafless and without chlorophyll, depending on a symbiotic relationship with a fungus to obtain nutrients from decaying organic matter. Because it has no chlorophyll it is often found on dark forest floors where little else is growing and where it stands out dramatically. Traveling along the Columbia River we hiked in the area of Dog Mountain and went to see these especially where they were growing with various Coralroots, also leafless and without chlorophyll. It was a very windy day and in taking pictures we had to contend not only with the wind but with the poor light in which these were growing. In many parts of their range they are rare, British Columbia having but a couple of closely monitored locations, but they are not rare in the Columbia River gorge or in California and we would see them again as traveled south.

The Phantom Orchid, Cephalanthera austiniae, is the only species of the genus in North America (Europe has numerous species). It is found along the west coast of North America from California to British Columbia and unlike its European cousins is leafless and without chlorophyll, depending on a symbiotic relationship with a fungus to obtain nutrients from decaying organic matter. Because it has no chlorophyll it is often found on dark forest floors where little else is growing and where it stands out dramatically. Traveling along the Columbia River we hiked in the area of Dog Mountain and went to see these especially where they were growing with various Coralroots, also leafless and without chlorophyll. It was a very windy day and in taking pictures we had to contend not only with the wind but with the poor light in which these were growing. In many parts of their range they are rare, British Columbia having but a couple of closely monitored locations, but they are not rare in the Columbia River gorge or in California and we would see them again as traveled south.

These White Bog Orchids were photographed at Brooks Memorial State Park near Goldendale, Washington. We spent part of a day there hiking and looking for wildflowers and orchids as we traveled south to the Columbia River gorge.