Alaska orchid

Description

Piperia unalaschensis is a species of orchid with a terrestrial habit native to much of western North America from Alaska to the southwestern United States, as well as eastern Canada and the Great Lakes. It can be found in forest, woodland and scrub, often in dry areas. This orchid grows erect to about 70 centimeters in maximum height. The basal leaves are up to 15 centimeters long by 4 wide. The upper leaves of the stem have been greatly reduced. The upper part of the stem is a slender spike-shaped inflorescence with widely spaced translucent green flowers. The flowers are fragrant at night, smelling like musk, soap, or honey. The plant is variable in size, stem thickness, inflorescence density, petal shape, and scent. Plants found in the coastal ranges and the Pacific Northwest are stockier and have broader sepals and petals than inland and montane forms. Piperia is a former genus within the orchid family Orchidaceae that has since been subsumed under Platanthera. These plants are known as rein orchids. They are native to western North America, especially California and the Pacific Northwest. This genus has the following characteristics: (a) a bisexual perennial nongreen plant that grows from buried tubers; fruit capsule bearing numerous minute seeds; (c) pollen that is sticky, and which is removed as sessile anther sacs; and (d) stigma fused with its style into a column. There are a total of ten species in the genus Piperia, which is named for American botanist Charles V. Piper. The genus members manifest generally cylindrical spikes or racemes. The subsurface architecture of these terrestrial wild orchids consists of a rhizome structure, from which emanate tubers. The rhizome extracts nutrients from fungal intermediates and may also store some of these nutrients. A basal rosette of leaves develops from the tuber at the surface of the soil, each of the two or three leaves being lanceolate in shape. Each leaf ranges from 10 to 15 centimeters in length and 20 to 35 millimeters in width. Leaves of younger plants are often more diminutive in size. Platanthera yadonii, formerly Piperia yadonii, exhibits a single veined flower one to two millimeters in width and a basal rosette leaf formation.