Platanthera sparsiflora

Sparse-flowered bog-orchid, Sparse-Flowered Bog-Orchid

Family: Orchidaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Sparse-flowered bog-orchid is a California native perennial found in northwestern California, Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada, southern California mountains, Transverse Ranges, Mojave Desert, and Modoc Plateau in wet meadows, streambanks, seeps, and conifer forest at elevations of 100 to 3,400 meters. Flowering from May to September, this orchid produces yellow-green to green flowers in a loose inflorescence 15 to 40 centimeters long, with delicate linear to lance-linear lip petals 6 to 10 millimeters long. Growing 25 to 55 centimeters tall with slender stems, the plant emerges from moist ground with graceful, elongated form. Its leaves are 4 to 15 centimeters long and 5 to 30 millimeters wide, positioned along the stem to capture light in its damp habitats. The flower's distinctive curved cylindrical spur, nearly equal in length to its lip, provides a unique architectural element to this elegant orchid.

Habitat: Full sun to partial shade, wet meadows, streambanks, seeps, conifer forest

Bloom period: May-Sep

Elevation: 100-3400 m

Bioregions: NW (exc NCoRI), CaR, SN, SCo, TR, MP, D

California counties: Mendocino, Tulare, San Bernardino, Del Norte, Shasta, Mariposa, Tuolumne, Fresno, Kern, El Dorado, Mono, Trinity, Alpine, Los Angeles, Siskiyou, Plumas, Ventura, Humboldt, Madera, Inyo, Riverside, Nevada, Amador, Lake, Sierra, Tehama, Butte, Modoc, Glenn, Placer, Calaveras, San Luis Obispo, Lassen

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