Piperia elongata

Chaparral orchid, wood rein-orchid, Wood Rein-Orchid

Family: Orchidaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Chaparral orchid is a California native perennial found in the California Floristic Province (excluding the Great Valley and southern Channel Islands) in dry sites, scrub, chaparral, and mixed-evergreen or conifer forest at elevations up to 2,200 meters. Flowering from May to July, this orchid produces delicate green flowers with a faint, complex fragrance ranging from harsh to honey-like. Growing 14 to 130 centimeters tall with an open to dense inflorescence 15 to 30 centimeters long, it has distinctive erect upper sepals and reflexed lower petals. Its basal leaves span 8 to 30 centimeters long and 10 to 65 millimeters wide, with sickle-shaped lateral petals and a small lance-shaped lip. The plant features a slender, curved spur 6.5 to 18 millimeters long, pointing downward from the flower.

Habitat: Generally dry sites, scrub, chaparral, mixed-evergreen or conifer forest

Bloom period: May-Jul

Elevation: < 2200 m

Bioregions: CA-FP (exc GV, s ChI)

California counties: San Bernardino, Amador, Marin, Santa Barbara, Del Norte, San Mateo, Lake, Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Cruz, Tehama, San Luis Obispo, San Francisco, Fresno, Santa Clara, Siskiyou, Mariposa, Riverside, Monterey, Humboldt, Orange, Placer, Plumas, Tulare, Sonoma, El Dorado, Contra Costa, Butte, Trinity, Shasta, Yuba, Alameda, Napa, San Diego, Mendocino, Calaveras, San Benito

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.