A Wood Rein Orchid Popped up in Pacifica
Until recently, the only wild orchids I’d seen around the SF Bay Area were non-native Weedy Orchids. So it was an exciting moment earlier this month when I spotted two beautiful flower spikes by a Pacifica hiking trail. They had dense clusters of small, unusual blooms. Dave and I could both see that the tiny flowers had lips and columns, and were orchids. We had found the native Wood Rein Orchid, or Platanthera elegans.
The Wood Rein Orchid is also known as the Elegant Piperia, or the Many Flowered Piperia. It lives along the West Coast of the USA and Canada, from California to British Columbia. The blooms we saw were white and green with nectar spurs. Other flowers were dried, still attached to swelling seedpods. The plant was growing at the base of a Eucalyptus tree, but didn’t have any leaves when we saw it. That’s not surprising in our Mediterranean climate with rainless summers. At this time of year, the area solely receives moisture from fog-drip.
Both of us were thrilled to see our first local, native orchid. While this species is not endangered, all are threatened by climate change, habitat destruction, and sometimes, being loved to death. Please remember to never take orchids from the wild. It’s illegal, and the plants will die from the stress. Take only photos and memories. Don’t damage them, pluck their flowers, or disturb them in any way. Be careful not to trample them or surrounding plants. Leave them to thrill future generations.
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