The second stop on the first day of our field trips was just down the road a few miles from the California Lady’s-slipper orchid site. We were told that we would see a fairly common, but none-the-less stunning Epipactis gigantea or Stream orchid. It is also called the Chatterbox orchid. Both common names are well-given. You will most likely get your feet wet when attempting to get a closer look, since it prefers the edges of wet areas such as streams or seeps. The name Chatterbox, comes from the fact that the lower portion of the lip is hinged and “chatters” in the slightest breeze.
The plant can be as tall as two to three feet (60 – 90 cm), and it can have as many as a couple of dozen one- to two-inch (2.5 – 5 cm) flowers strung along the stem. The color of the petals varies from greenish yellow, to pinkish tan with streaks of red, to a deep reddish brown. According to a pollination study performed in Colorado, this orchid can be pollinated by flies, beetles, bees, ants, and spiders — obviously it’s not very particular about its pollinators.
Here is a close-up shot of the flowers of a common color form of Epipactis gigantea:
We arrived at the spot, parked our vehicles, and loaded our gear for the short walk to a small stream cascading down the mountain side. Our field trip guide, Raymond Prothero, pointed out a couple of small patches of California Lady’s-slipper orchids, but they were mostly well past peak bloom. Next, he pointed out several groups of Epipactis gigantea — these were the lighter color forms with petals of pinkish tan or greenish yellow:
They were in perfect bloom, with open flowers on the bottom of the flower stem and some unopened buds at the top of the stem. There were many plants growing in the wet ditch next to the road.
He told us to take our time, and we proceeded to look around, soon finding some flowers that were a bit darker in color:
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Note one of the ever-present mosquitoes on the left sepal of the flower in the right image. This insect is too small to be a pollinator no matter how hard it might try.
In the image below, note the bright yellow pollinia peaking out from behind the column. Apparently, a pollinator has dislodged the pollinia without taking them along to another flower. Perhaps it was that pesky mosquito…
Just down the road a bit was a seepy area just next to the road. When I arrived, there was a great deal of commotion around a particular plant. Raymond was explaining that this plant had one double flower! Here is an image of this strange mutation:
This paticular area was loaded with flowering plants. Here is an image of my friend, Sam, inspecting this “wall” of flowering plants:
These plants had flowers that were considerably darker color than the first ones we saw growing next to the stream in full sunlight:
Keeping with the “red” theme, here is another wildflower that we saw growing beside the road. It is Silene californica, or California Indian-pink. We have a similiar species on the East Coast (Silene virginica), but rather than being a beautiful coral-pink, ours is a bright scarlet red color. By the way, both of these are relativess of the carnation:
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We took our time photographing the orchids and other wildflowers and then enjoyed the scenery of cliffs diving into a branch of the Feather River:
Wow! What a wonderful day this has been. The wildflowers and scenery are just stunning, and there’s a lot more to come. Stay tuned for tomorrow’s post…
— Jim