Piperia elongata |
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chaparral orchid, dense flower rein orchid, wood rein-orchid |
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Habit | Plants (9–)14–130 cm. |
Stems | ± uniform toward tuberoid, 1–12 mm diam. distal to leaves; bracts 4–22. |
Leaves | prostrate; blade 7.5–32 × 1–8.4 cm. |
Inflorescences | sparsely to densely flowered, (3.5–)6–70 cm; rachis usually longer than peduncle; bracts 5–20 mm. |
Flowers | green; fragrance when present nocturnal, faint, harsh to honeylike; sepals 2.4–6 × 1.1–3 mm; dorsal sepal ovate; lateral sepals spreading to recurved, ± obliquely lanceolate to oblong; petals erect-spreading, ± falcate, ovate-attenuate, 3–6 × 1.5–2.5 mm, inner margins forming U; lip becoming strongly deflexed, triangular-lanceolate, 2.1–5 × 1.2–3.4 mm; spur curved, mostly deflexed, (7–)9–15(–18) mm; viscidia broadly elliptic-ovate, 0.4–0.6 × (0.2–)0.3–0.4 mm; rostellum blunt. |
Capsules | 4–11 mm. |
Seeds | cinnamon brown. |
2n | = 42. |
Piperia elongata |
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Phenology | Flowering May–Sep. |
Habitat | Forest chaparral, dry, open sites, usually away from the immediate coast |
Elevation | 0–1600 m (0–5200 ft) |
Distribution |
CA; ID; MT; OR; WA; BC
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Discussion | Plants of the California Channel Islands are smaller, have narrower viscidia than typical plants, and flower earlier (May–June). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 26, p. 576. |
Parent taxa | Orchidaceae > subfam. Orchidoideae > tribe Orchideae > subtribe Orchidinae > Piperia |
Sibling taxa | |
Synonyms | Habenaria elegans var. elata, Habenaria unalascensis subsp. elata, Habenaria unalascensis var. elata, P. elegans var. elata |
Name authority | Rydberg: Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 28: 270. (1901) |
Web links |