Day 13 — Orchids on the “Rock” — Newfoundland — 2013-07-15

We left Deer Lake early in the morning heading south toward several orchid sites we had known to be in the Codroy Valley. Each of these sites hosts a dizzying array of forms and colors of the fringed orchids: Platanthera lacera or Ragged Fringed orchid, Platanthera psycodes or Small Purple Fringed orchid, and Platanthera grandiflora or Large Purple Fringed orchid.

The first site on our list was a large sheep field just across the Grand Codroy River, near Millville, Newfoundland. The directions we had been given by our friends, Neil Jacobs and his wife Jen Modliszewski, were quite clear: “Look for a large field split by a north/south running creek”. According to Neil, this property was owned and managed by The Nature Conservancy of Canada. What we were looking for at this site was Platanthera lacera, Platanthera psycodes, and their hybrid: Platanthera Xandrewsii. To our dismay, this is what we saw:

I’m sorry that the image is not sharp and clear, but my hands were shaking at this point… They were cutting hay in a field full of orchids! We pulled over onto a gravel driveway and retrieved our camera gear. When we crossed the road to enter the field, we saw two Nature Conservancy of Canada signs that were just alike and within ten feet of each other. Here is one of them:

Please note the text just below the center of the sign: “Enjoy your visit and please respect the plants and wildlife. No Cutting”.

As you can easily see, most of the field had already been cut! “Tractor man” was at the far end of the field working his way back toward the road, so I quickly waded into the remaining grasses and soon spotted my first fringed orchid, Platanthera lacera or Ragged Fringed orchid:

It is one of only two plants of what I consider to be a “pure” species that we found at this site. Perhaps we could have found more if we had had the luxury of time. I was feeling like I was under the gun photographing just ahead of the blade. After about ten minutes, we heard the tractor shut down, and the kid who was operating it got off and headed our way. My emotions were all over the place at this point, and I was not sure what I was going to say.

He approached us and asked what we were doing here. Seeing our large tripods, he thought we were surveyors. I told him we were photographing the orchids that I thought were protected by the Nature Conservancy. He said he didn’t know anything about orchids, so we showed him a few flowering plants and explained what they were. I asked him why he was cutting hay when the sign clearly read, “No Cutting”. His reply was that this field had been in his family for generations and that his Dad told him to cut it. We went back and forth, and knowing I had no authority in this matter, I asked him if we could have an hour before he reached this part of the field. He agreed and walked back to the tractor.

I immediately went to the sign and called the number listed at the bottom… of course — no answer. So I left a frantic message and asked them to call me back immediately. Turns out, the office was being manned by an intern who dutifully took the message for the supervisor who would not be back in the office for several days. When I returned back home, I called the number again and was immediately greeted by the supervisor who, interestingly enough, was the person in charge of that particular site. She was new in the job and told me she had gotten the message but had not had time to follow up on the call. When asked about cutting hay on the property, she replied that part of original agreement they had with the prior owner was that he be allowed to cut hay one time per year. I suggested that the fall might be a better time of the year to cut hay, after the orchids had formed seed capsules, and she agreed and said she would look further into the matter and call me back. Since I really don’t have a dog in this fight except being concerned for the plants, I told her she didn’t have to call me back, but I’d appreciate if she would study the matter.

Well, we were pressed for time and had only about an hour before everything was leveled. Rush, rush, rush. I really don’t like to be rushed when taking photographs, but it is what it is. Here are some of the images I captured of the plants in only one small section of the field. I cannot be sure of the identification, so I’ll call them all Platanthera Xandrewsii, the hybrid cross between Platanthera lacera and Platanthera psycodes. By the way, the descriptive terminology for a hybrid uses the “X” to define a hybrid name:

There were plenty of the purple colored ones in the field, as well, showing strong features of their Platanthera psycodes lineage if not the pure species:

Finally, here are images of two plants that I am almost sure are hybrids:

The next stop on our list is a huge, grassy field just on the east side of the new bridge across the Grand Codroy River. This site is across the river from the new Codroy Valley Provincial Park. We arrived to find a couple of families having a summer get-away along the sandy bank of the river. We unloaded our gear and proeeded out into the thigh-high grasses. It is amazing to me how the fringed orchids can thrive in such conditions, but they are doing quite well. We were seeing thousands of them barely visible in the grassy meadow. Almost all of the orchids at this site appeared to be a pure form of Platanthera psycodes or Small Purple Fringed orchid although a few of them were rather strange looking in that they had greatly enlarged flower bracts or frilly, upturned lips:

Some of these plants showed strong signs of Platanthera grandiflora or Large Purple Fringed orchid lineage, but I did not see any plants that appeared to be pure Platanthera grandiflora at this site. There were, however, many shapes and color forms of Platanthera pscodes. I even found that elusive white form, just beginning to bloom:

…and the obligatory one shot from overhead:

As I was finishing the photography at this site, I noticed Walter out by the roadside talking to a gentleman. I was curious, so I made my way about 100 yards (~300 meters) through the grass to their location. When I arrived, Walter explained that the gentleman was the owner of the property on which we had unknowingly tresspassed. He was very nice and told us that he had no problem with photographers being on the property. What he was concerned about was the group of families in the trucks that were along the river. He feared that they might scatter litter and also disturb nesting shore birds. I explained that we didn’t see any “No Tresspassing” signs, but he said that he didn’t want to post them. We exchanged pleasantries, and he walked off down the river road to tell the families to go somewhere else. I think we did a good job of explaining what a “treasure” he had on his property, and I felt that he would continue to be a good steward and protect the property in the future.

From here, we set out to our final destination for the day — a grassy field along the bay just past the St. Andrews airport. Our friend Neil had told us to look for a “grassy path leading into a field where Platanthera grandiflora could be found hiding in the grasses”. We found what we thought matched his description. Here is an image of that beautiful, grassy field:

We parked just along the grassy path that transected the field and unloaded our gear. I proceeded to walk the path and look for signs of orchids. Several yards down the path, I noticed a splash of purple on the left side. Here is what I saw:

I believe that these were some of the best fringed orchids we had seen on this trip. They were less than 8 inches (20 cm) tall and were well hidden in the grass:

Neil had reported seeing Platanthera lacera or Ragged Fringed orchid at this site, but we did not find them on this visit. What we did find, however, leads me to belive that Platanthera lacera is fairly close by. We found another hybrid: Platanthera Xkeenanii (Keenan’s Fringed orchid) or the hybrid cross between Platanthera lacera and Platanthera grandiflora:

It was getting late in the day, so we finished up and loaded our gear back into the car. There was one spot, however, I wanted to see. That was at the end of the gravel road. The scenery at Northwest Cove was breathtaking. The afternoon light on the hills in the distance and the blue water of the cove made for a pleasant end to a day filled with unexpected adventure and a wonderful array of native orchids:

Tomorrow, we would make our final stop at Cheeseman Provincial Park to look for the dwarf form of Platanthera orbiculata or Lesser Pad-leaved orchid. We had looked for this beauty a week earlier but had not had any luck finding it. Thanks to our friend Diane Allen, we now had an additional place to search. But now it was time to head back to the Hotel Port aux Basques and another fine meal of Newfoundland cod…

— Jim