Piperia elegans subsp. elegans

IllustratedEndemic
Basionym: Habenaria maritima (Sprengel) S. Watson 1892
Synonyms: Habenaria elegans var. maritima (Greene) Ames Habenaria elegans var. multiflora (Rydberg) Peck Habenaria greenei Greene Habenaria unalascensis subsp. maritima Habenaria unalascensis var. maritima (Greene) Correll Piperia maritima Piperia multiflora
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 26. Treatment on page 573. Mentioned on page 570, 572, 574.

Plants 12–73(–100) cm. Flowers pleasantly scented or musky; petals and lip pale green to white; spur 7–14 mm; viscidia oblong, 0.6–1 mm, usually more than 2 times as long as wide.


Phenology: Flowering Jun–Sep/Oct.
Habitat: Conifer and mixed evergreen forests, coastal scrub, exposed coastal bluff
Elevation: 0–1700 m

Distribution

V26 1170-distribution-map.jpg

B.C., Calif., Idaho, Mont., Oreg., Wash.

Discussion

Plants on exposed coastal bluffs are shorter and stouter than plants in sheltered or inland localities. Plants in warmer interior locations flower earlier than those on the coast and have fewer stem bracts. The flowers are pollinated by noctuid moths (J. D. Ackerman 1977).

A population in San Francisco, California, is also unusual by having basally attenuate stems and by flowering very late (Sep–Oct).

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.
James D. Ackerman +  and Randall Morgan +
(Lindley) Rydberg +
Habenaria maritima +
B.C. +, Calif. +, Idaho +, Mont. +, Oreg. +  and Wash. +
0–1700 m +
Conifer and mixed evergreen forests, coastal scrub, exposed coastal bluff +
Flowering Jun–Sep/Oct. +
Bull. Torrey Bot. Club +
Illustrated +  and Endemic +
Habenaria elegans var. maritima +, Habenaria elegans var. multiflora +, Habenaria greenei +, Habenaria unalascensis subsp. maritima +, Habenaria unalascensis var. maritima +, Piperia maritima +  and Piperia multiflora +
Piperia elegans subsp. elegans +
Piperia elegans +
subspecies +