Piperia candida |
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pearl orchid, slender white piperia, white-flower rein-orchid |
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Habit | Plants 10–60 cm. |
Stems | uniform toward base, 0.7–3.5 mm diam. distal to leaves; bracts 2–5(–10). |
Leaves | prostrate to erect-spreading; blade 5–18 × 1.1–3.5 cm. |
Inflorescences | sparsely flowered, ± secund, (2–)10–30 cm; rachis shorter than or equal to peduncle; bracts 3–10 mm. |
Flowers | white, fragrance faint, harsh to honeylike; sepals oblong-elliptic, 1.8–3.5(–4.5) × 1–1.9 mm; dorsal sepal projecting to ± recurved; lateral sepals deflexed, ± twisted; petals usually projecting forward and ± connivent, white, midvein faintly green, asymmetrically lanceolate, 2–4 × 1 mm; lip recurved, triangular-ovate, (1.5–)2–3(–4 mm) × 1–2.8 mm; spur curved, tapered, 1.5–4 mm; viscidia broadly elliptic to ovate, 0.3–0.6 × 0.2–0.4 mm; rostellum ± elongate. |
Capsules | 5–9 mm. |
Seeds | cinnamon brown. |
2n | = 42. |
Piperia candida |
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Phenology | Flowering late spring–summer (May–Aug). |
Habitat | Conifer and mixed evergreen forests, chaparral, sometimes on serpentine soils, not more than 150 km from coast |
Elevation | 0–1500 m (0–4900 ft) |
Distribution |
AK; CA; OR; WA; BC
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Discussion | The flowers in Piperia candida are more completely white and more ephemeral than in any other member of the genus. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 26, p. 574. |
Parent taxa | Orchidaceae > subfam. Orchidoideae > tribe Orchideae > subtribe Orchidinae > Piperia |
Sibling taxa | |
Name authority | Rand. Morgan & Ackerman: Lindleyana 5: 207, figs. 1H–N, 2. (1990) |
Web links |