Family: Orchidaceae,
Orchid
Genus: Piperia
Description
General: perennial, hairless, leafless but with a few small
bracts, 20-60 cm tall, from 1-3 round to ovoid, fleshy
tubers mostly 1.5-3 cm long and up to 1 cm broad.
 Leaves: mainly basal, 2-4 on the lower third of the
stem, often closely clustered, usually starting to wither by
early flowering, lanceolate to oblanceolate, 8-15 cm long
and 10-30 mm broad, pointed to blunt-tipped, gradually
narrowed to the sheathing base.
 Flowers: numerous in a tall, narrow spike, floral bracts
up to 8 mm long. Flowers moderately fragrant, almost
stalkless, spirally arranged. Sepals 1-nerved, pale green,
thin, the upper one ovate or ovate-elliptic, about 3 mm
long, the lower pair slightly longer, spreading to slightly
bent back. Petals fleshy and thicker than the sepals,
greenish to nearly white and sometimes purplish-tinged,
the lip fleshy, lanceolate to triangular-ovate, 2.5-4.5 mm
long, narrower near the base, fused with the side sepals
and with the base of the column, thickened along the
edges. Spur cylindric straight to somewhat curved, 3-5
mm long. Reproductive column very short, the anther
about 1 mm long, the pollen sacs nearly joined.
Flowering time: Late June-August.
 Fruits: capsules, erect, scarcely 1 cm long.
Distribution
Usually in dry woods, to gravelly streambanks and open
mountain sides, in w. and c. parts of MT. Also from AK to
Quebec and Ontario, and s. to CA, NV, UT, CO, SD. |
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