RHH's photos with the keyword: mount rainier national park

This is Corallorhiza trifida, the Early or Spring Coralroot, the plant I was looking for at Mount Rainier National Park, and as you can see, a rather insignificant plant. The plant shown here is less than six inches (15 cm) tall and the flowers very small. Interestingly, it is a plant that grows around the world. It has been reported from the United States, Canada, Russia, China, Japan, Korea, India, Nepal, Kashmir, Greenland, Pakistan, and almost every country in Europe. It is leafless and partially mycoheterotrophic, i.e., it derives much of its nourishment from a complex relationship with a soil fungus, though, unlike other Coralroots it also has chlorophyll. A friend had found it in two locations in Rainier and I found it again in both, though it was very hard to find on account of its size.

This was almost our last view of Rainier before leaving the following morning when the mountain was covered with clouds. The photo was taken from the southeast side of the park between Paradise and Ohanapekosh near Box Canyon. We had our evening meal at a viewpoint and watched the sunset as we ate.

Taken from a viewpoint across from the falls and across a deep glacial canyon, these falls are on the Paradise River and drop 159 feet. Only the top of the falls are visible from the overlook and parking lot along the road to Paradise. These are one of the more beautiful of many falls in the National Park and the short hike to the viewpoint should not be missed, though the area is presently closed for repairs.

This, the Slender Bog Orchis, is another of the native orchids we saw while hiking in the Greenwater area to the north of Mount Rainier. The species is very common in our area, but I took the photo for the sake of the insect that was working the flowers, some sort of fly, and am hoping that it can be identified. nativeorchidsofthepacificnorthwest.blogspot.com/2011/03/s...

Mark Egger has identified this as the Small-flowered or Magenta Paintbrush, Castilleja parviflora var. oreopola, a variety found only in the area of Mount Rainier. We were intrigued by the deep reddish-purple color of the bracts, a color we had not seen before. Photographed along a forest service road in the Greenwater area north of Mount Rainier. ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2012/08/near-greenw...