Piperia michaelii

Michael's rein-orchid, Michael's Rein-Orchid

Family: Orchidaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 4.2

Michael's rein-orchid is a California native perennial found in coastal, central, and northern California regions including Santa Cruz Island, occurring in coastal scrub, woodland, and mixed-evergreen forest at elevations below 700 meters. Flowering from April to August, this orchid produces green to yellow-green flowers with a strong, pleasant fragrance and delicate structure. Growing 9 to 70 centimeters tall with an erect stem, it develops a distinctive inflorescence 15 to 30 centimeters long and moderately dense. Its basal leaves are 7 to 30 centimeters long and 10 to 40 millimeters wide, with an elegant, elongated form. The orchid features a unique floral structure with an ascending upper sepal, spreading lower sepal, and a curved spur 8 to 12 millimeters long that generally points downward.

Habitat: Generally dry sites, coastal scrub, woodland, mixed-evergreen or closed-cone-pine forest

Bloom period: Apr-Aug

Elevation: < 700 m

Bioregions: NCo, SNF, CCo, SnFrB, n SCo, n ChI (Santa Cruz Island), WTR.

California counties: Tuolumne, Tulare, San Luis Obispo, Los Angeles, Monterey, Alameda, Butte, Humboldt, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Ventura, Yuba, Nevada, Stanislaus, Contra Costa, Santa Cruz, Fresno, 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.