Yadon's piperia ~ 04/18/13 ~ Huckleberry Hill

 Yadon's rein orchid
Piperia yadonii
CNPS 8th Edition Inventory
Orchidaceae

posted 05/23/13 - "Please watch your step. Those are Yadon's you're treading on."  So said my veteran CNPS guide. Really!?!  I've only ever noticed these when they're blooming in late July and early August and the leaves are completely gone.  I had no idea when the leaves were actually out; they look just like the exotic orchids I have as houseplants.  Once again, I'm noting this location is not Monterey City's Huckleberry Hill Nature Preserve where I first saw Yadon's.

elegant piperia ~ 09/29/12 ~ Rocky Creek

elegant rein orchid
Piperia elegans ssp. elegans
Orchidaceae

It's funny how once you notice something, you start seeing it all over the place.  We weren't expecting to see any orchids this late in the year, then I found a small cluster of five of these elegant rein orchids.  On our return hike back down a 3.4 mile road, we ended up seeing them in numerous places, all on north-facing slopes.  The one dated record I could quickly find for the region, linked from Jepson eFlora, was made by Ivar Tidestrom on October 11, 1893 at Point Lobos. 1893!?!  Very cool.  I love how records are increasingly available online.

ps 10/02/12 - I stopped by Skyline Forest Drive this evening to see if any elegants were blooming. When we were on a Yadon's piperia hunt back in the summer of 2010, I checked the progress of a small area of elegants here on July 25, August 4, August 9, and August 27.  Today there was nothing, zip, nada.  The only herbaceous greenery I found were one bunch of sedges near a storm drain and pockets of heavily browsed and browning Asteraceae.  I couldn't even find evidence of any seed pods for elegant or Yadon's.  I wonder if the extremely dry year kept them from coming up.

pss 10/06/12 - I'm always amazed at the e-mail conversations I get into when I start searching for information. While looking for links to other pictures for this post, I came across an outlier on CalPhotos.  I e-mailed the photographer to query him about the accuracy of his ID.  Come to find out he's a retired ranger for Henry Coe State Park.  In his 30 years of experience there and knowing other botanists who ID'd piperias at Coe Park spanning the same amount of time, he agreed with me that the reported and photographed elegant piperia is actually Piperia elongata. I don't consider myself a botanist in any regard, so I take a breath before questioning 30 years of reported information. I do think access to online records makes double-checking IDs that much easier.

royal rein orchid ~ 07/19/12 ~ Mt. Madonna

royal rein orchid / flat spurred piperia

Piperia transversa
Orchidaceae

If I hadn't wanted to take a break in the shade while hiking back up the mountain, I doubt we would have spotted this diminutive 8 inch tall orchid. This was the only individual we found during our entire camping trip, even though it's the time of year for other rein orchids to start blooming. While looking at other Piperia for this ID, I realized I may have made a couple errors in past posts and am waiting to hear back from an expert. The face and long spur look somewhat similar to elegant rein orchid (P. elegans) or dense flowered rein orchid (P. elongata) to me, but the spur is definitely transverse/flat/perpendicular to the axis of the stem versus pointing downward.

broadleaf helleborine ~ 07/27/11 ~ Butano

broadleaf helleborine
Epipactis helleborine
Orchidaceae

We were really excited to find an orchid that we haven't seen yet. I also posted a picture taken the following day showing the color variation on Flickr. It was common at Butano State Park along the creekside trails under the redwoods. However, I was a bit disappointed to discover the broadleaf helleborine comes from Europe. In fact, it is the only non-native orchid listed in Calflora. I've mentioned before about my developing negative prejudice against non-native plants and animals, which taken to the extreme is what The Biology Refugia calls "biological xenophobia." Before doing this blog and placing labels on everything under the sun, I was pretty content finding something new and simply being in awe. I want to get back to that innocence and unbiased admiration of nature. Interestingly enough, Jennifer at A Passion for Nature recently posted about the broadleaf helleborine blooming in western New York. She's a blogger after my own heart in how she researches for her posts. Also, David at Orchids, Nature, and My Outdoor Life posted finding a broadleaf helleborine across the pond.

hooded ladies' tresses ~ 07/18/11 ~ Fort Ord

hooded ladies' tresses
Spiranthes romanzoffiana
Orchidaceae

It's that time of year again - orchids! Posting this reminds me we should go look for some other orchids around town. Piperia anyone?

Often when I repeat previous identifications, I do a cursory look to make sure I have past posts correct, in this case another hooded ladies' tresses at Fort Ord on August 4, 2010. The CNPS plant list for Fort Ord shows this species as "Spiranthes porrifolia/romanzoffiana – Western/Hooded ladies' tresses", which is unusual having a slashed ID on one of their lists. Maybe they weren't sure? I cheated last year by simply going with what Native Orchids on Flickr told me.

This time I looked at Jepson for both S. porrifolia and S. romanzoffiana, but relative proportions of fused upper sepal with lateral petals sounds variable and somewhat subjective. Besides, most flower descriptions don't make much sense to me unless I compare pictures. The two best CalPhotos' for comparison purposes are these close-ups of western and hooded. I've come up with my own non-scientific metaphor on how to tell these two ladies' tresses apart: western has a long straight tongue (lower petal/lip) sticking out over wide lower lips (sepals), whereas hooded has an arrow-shaped tongue sticking out over missing lower lips.

Yadon's piperia ~ 08/27/10 ~ Skyline Forest Drive

Yadon's rein orchid
Piperia yadonii
CNPS 8th Edition Inventory
Orchidaceae

Okay, okay, I've already said I've had enough of these orchid pics. It's our "thing" this summer to look for orchids, whereas last year we were really into grunion greeting. Just wanted to log and post pictorial proof of the end of the Yadon's blooms at the same time and location of the elegant piperia shown on this same date.

elegant piperia ~ 08/27/10 ~ Skyline Forest Drive

elegant rein orchid
Piperia elegans
Orchidaceae

We've been periodically following the bloom of this individual orchid since July 25 when we went on our Yadon's piperia hunt. This location is literally on the side of the road, which makes it easy to stop on the way home (unlike hour-long runs up 1000 ft. of elevation to see Michael's piperia). To follow a pictorial tour of this bloom progression click elegant piperia. I consulted with our orchid friend on Flickr. He was kind enough to explain about length of spurs and and upper petals curving towards dorsal sepals. But, it's Greek to me. We did agree that the timing of the bloom a whole month after Yadon's only a couple yards away makes it likely this is elegant or a hybrid.

Michael's piperia ~ 08/11/10 ~ Toro Park

Michael's rein orchid
Piperia michaelii

CNPS 8th Edition Inventory
Orchidaceae

I'm feeling very repetitive these days, but I want to have a blog record of timing and location of orchids for next year. Now that Andy has been interested in looking for orchids, he seems to be seeing them on all his trail runs. It's a good thing.

ps 08/21/10 - Michael's piperia has a stout stem and seems to be found right along the trail sides in disturbed areas. Today, a friend and I saw the tail end of blooms at Fort Ord - Creekside, which is located just across Hwy 68 from Toro County Park. She didn't quite believe me it was an orchid until I pointed out the 3 remaining blooms on the tip.

Michael's piperia ~ 08/09/10 ~ Garland Ranch

Michael's rein orchid
Piperia michaelii
CNPS 8th Edition Inventory
Orchidaceae

Are you sick of my posts of orchids, yet? We've been keeping an eye out for them and are finding more than we ever thought possible. Please note the different locations of my photos in the labels, marked with an 'x.' Funny, but I always thought of orchids as being a spring bloomer. WRONG. Our local native orchids seem to be most showy in mid to late summer. It's been fun spotting these, but I doubt I'll post anymore orchid photos for a while.

Yadon's piperia ~ 08/09/10 ~ Skyline Forest Drive

Yadon's rein orchid
Piperia yadonii
CNPS 8th Edition Inventory
Orchidaceae

Do you like the dirt and grime on this orchid? I guess that's what you get when it grows 5 feet away from the road. Too bad they mow so heavily in the area to keep the roadsides clear. I wonder if there'd be more Yadon's piperia if they didn't mow.

elegant piperia ~ 08/09/10 ~ Skyline Forest Drive

elegant rein orchid
Piperia elegans
Orchidaceae

I'm making an early ID, even though this isn't in full bloom yet. I've been documenting this particular individual with posts on August 4 and July 25. Amazingly, it looks very similar to Yadon's piperia. Simply based on the timing of the bloom, I'm guessing it's a different species.

hooded ladies' tresses
Spiranthes romanzoffiana
Orchidaceae

Now that we've been orchid hunting for the endangered Yadon's piperia at several locations, we seem to be spotting different orchids left and right. Please note, I use the word 'hunting' to reference 'looking,' not 'killing.' In my estimation our local native orchids are not terribly showy and are fairly small, i.e. little single-stem shoots that rarely reach 18 inches tall with no apparent leaves. I'm guessing I've hiked past Spiranthes before at Fort Ord and never paid much attention to them before now. It's an odd phenomena of human attention; you're oblivious to the fact you're oblivious. I've hiked with people who simply don't see butterflies... at all, even after I point them out. There's a Hymenoptera in the second pic, but I'm feeling a little lazy to sort through a search of "all black bee" right now.

ps 08/22/10 - For other Spiranthes, check out these posts from Blue Jay Barrens in OH and Orchids, Nature and My Outdoor Life in the UK.

elegant piperia ~ 08/04/10 ~ Skyline Forest Drive

unknown orchid
Orchidaceae

We checked on this, but it's still not enough in bloom to ID. Will check again later, if the deer haven't eaten it. I noticed many of the asparagus looking shoots from July 25, 2010 at Skyline had been browsed upon to the nub.

ps 07/23/11 - For an updated ID on this orchid, check out my August 27, 2010 elegant piperia post.

piperia ~ 07/25/10 ~ Huckleberry Hill

light colored orchid likely Yadon's
CNPS 8th Edition Inventory
Orchidaceae

Huckleberry Hill was the first place that I ever saw Yadon's piperia. It helps tremendously for ID to have numerous yellow flags with a labeled digital picture, complete with scientific name and common name. The plastic flags themselves serve as great hiding spots for spider egg sacs. I wish I had taken a picture. Interestingly enough, there was a chicken-wired orchid on the Presidio side of the fence. We wondered what it was, but couldn't get close enough to check it out. We may never know. Obviously, somebody is studying these orchids, but I wouldn't know who or where to go for this information.

ps - 07/27/12 - Vern Yadon confirmed to me that the later flowers tend to be much paler than the early flowers, even though I've seen both versions on this same day at multiple locations.

elegant piperia ~ 07/25/10 ~ Skyline Forest Drive

unknown orchid
Orchidaceae

We plan to keep an eye out for this asparagus looking shoot. I don't think it's Yadon's piperia, because it's a bit behind the bloom stage of the Yadon's only 25 feet away.

ps 07/23/11 - For an updated ID on this orchid, check out my August 27, 2010 elegant piperia post.

Yadon's piperia ~ 07/25/10 ~ Skyline Forest Drive

Yadon's rein-orchid
Piperia yadonii
CNPS 8th Edition Inventory
Orchidaceae

Again, another post to show the variation, location, and timing of this local federally endangered orchid. For us, it seems they are everywhere. We were simply driving to another location to show our new orchid friend where they are locally and saw blue flags on the side of the road. We stopped, of course, and found numerous blooming Yadon's. It's very typical to see rattlesnake grass (Briza maxima) wrapped around the orchid shoots.

Yadon's piperia ~ 07/25/10 ~ Washington Park

Yadon's rein-orchid

Piperia yadonii
CNPS 8th Edition Inventory
Orchidaceae

Have you seen enough Yadon's piperia, yet? I'm mainly logging these posts to document the different locations (noted in labels below with an 'x') that we've found them this year. However, the first picture above is stockier than others I've seen and asked our orchid friend. He says there can be quite the variation within species. I maintain several CalPhotos of orchids may be misidentified.

Yadon's piperia ~ 07/25/10 ~ Manzanita Park

Yadon's rein-orchid among Hooker's manzanita
Piperia yadonii among Arctostaphylos hookeri ssp. hookeri
CNPS 8th Edition Inventory among CNPS 8th Edition Inventory
Orchidaceae and Ericaceae

After 4 unsuccessful GPS coordinate attempts to find this rare orchid and finding other things instead, we finally hit pay dirt on our 5th try. The first photo above is unusually light colored compared to other Yadon's piperia that we saw this day. For a much better picture of this pale individual, check out Native Orchids on Flickr. The low growing shrub where this orchid is found is, I'm totally guessing, Hooker's manzanita and it's classified by CNPS as a 1B.2 rare, threatened, and endangered CA native.

ps 06/06/11 - As I was looking at my new labels for endangered and threatened species, I discovered Hooker's manzanita is considered endangered in the state of CA.

pss 10/23/11 - I'm going through and adding labels for endangered and threatened species for CA . I can't find this particular manzanita on the official California Department of Fish and Game's PDF list updated this month October 2011. I haven't figured out which is correct, the PDF or Elkhorn's site (embedded in the postscript above) is correct. And, I also have not figured out how to embed links to PDFs.

Yadon's piperia ~ 07/19/10 ~ Huckleberry Hill

Yadon's rein-orchid

Piperia yadonii
CNPS 8th Edition Inventory
Orchidaceae

This is a federally endangered species. We visited Huckleberry Hill June 2, 2010 and the only evidence of this orchid at the time were numerous flags and signs. I don't know what the leaves look like, but I got down on my hands and knees and searched all around several flags for anything green. Really, the only things growing in this 30 yard stretch of path were rattlesnake grass (Briza maxima), an unidentified single-stem legume, bushes I believe are Eastwood's manzanita (Arctostaphylos glandulosa), and Monterey pine (Pinus radiata). Thanks to Native Orchids flickr post of another Piperia, I suspected Yadon's might be blooming now and went on an orchid hunt instead of my usual early morning walk.

Bingo! It's not a very big plant, maybe 8-14" tall and would be very easy to overlook. My photos look nothing like a particular photo used on both Wikipedia and CalPhotos.

It was interesting to note that more than half the flags seemed to have blooming orchids nearby and a smaller number of blooms had no flag at all. I also found a couple orchids eaten down to the stems or pulled up from the roots.

I rarely go out looking for something this specific, but I'm glad I did. Vern Yadon (yes, the same for whom this orchid is named) states there are 14 orchid species, with 7 being Piperia, in Monterey County.

ps 08/26/11 - Ha! Looks like the picture used for both Wikipedia and CalPhotos was incorrectly identified. Phew! No wonder I was so confused when first looking at this orchid. I've already contacted the owner of the picture to see if he can get it placed properly online.

pss 12/30/13 - The California Department of Transportation has requested permission to use my first photo above on a vista viewpoint interpretive sign.  Cool!