The Phantom orchid (Cephalanthera austiniae) in Plumas County, California — 2013-06-11

On both the first and second day of this year’s Native Orchid Conference symposium, we visited sites for the strange and beautiful Cephalanthera austiniae or Phantom orchid.

Warning: Technical stuff follows…

This particular genus, Cephalanthera, contains a handfull of species of which all but one are found in old world regions of Europe, Asia, and North Africa. The single species found in North America is very different from the other species in that it contains no chlorophyll, so it is necessarily dependent on another source for food. This source is a fungus. Cephalanthera austiniae is what’s known as a myco-heterotroph – the parasite of an underground fungus. In a sense, it cheats. Rather than using photosynthesis to convert sunlight, carbon dioxide and water into carbohydrates, it gets its nutrition directly from the fungus.

Here is a close-up shot of the flowers of Cephalanthera austiniae:

The first site we visited for the Phantom orchid was Spanish Ranch Road in Meadow Valley. This was late on the first field trip day. We drove down a very dusty road (this seems to be a constant feature of our field trips in California), and arrived at a turnoff deep in the woods. After a short walk to an open meadow, we climbed a steep hillside (another constant feature of our field trips), and immediately saw clumps of white flowers jutting out of the dry forest floor:

In no time, these clumps were surrounded by eager photographers, jockeying for position to get that perfect shot:

(Note the obvious product placement in this image…)

Upon close inspection, the waxy white flowers of this plant are not actually pure white, but a very light, cream color. The curved lip is highlighted by a bright yellow or golden colored chevron. This makes for quite a beautiful sight in the deep woods:

I attempted to take a shot from above, but I’m not too sure it worked as I had wanted:

We took our time soaking in the beauty of this mysterious orchid. Soon, it was time to head back to the conference center.

The next field trip day, took us to another site in Meadow Valley, beside a large lake. Here, we found only a couple of Phantom orchid plants, but they were in much nicer shape that those we had seen at the Spanish Ranch Road site. In addition, these plants were blooming next to last year’s seed capsules:

Much time was spent around these lovely plants. Soon, it was time for lunch, so we drifted over to the picnic tables that were nearby, and ate our sandwiches under the towering Ponderosa pines:

What a great way to spend time with old friends and new acquaintances. Who could ever become weary of seeing new sights and loads of native orchids?…

— Jim