We Have An Accord

Day 279: I've been waiting for Arnie's assessment for several days now, and it would seem we are in agreement regarding a species of Orchid not previously recorded in Mount Rainier National Park: Platanthera ephemerantha. That's harder to say than "Myriosclerotinia caricis-ampullaceae." We were put onto this lovely and tiny creature by another botanist who had seen it before it was in bloom. He thought it might be P. unalascensis, and asked me if I could check on it when it was flowering. We visited it on our way home from the abortive aurora mission, and as it turns out, it was the crown jewel of the day. I sent pictures to Arnie, but forgot to include the pertinent details as to how I keyed it out with Hitchcock. Here's our exchange so you can see what goes into determining the identity of a plant. There are a few missing pieces to the puzzle, but enough of them have come together to confirm Platanthera ephemerantha.

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From Arnie:
Okay, well, here we go.  To start off, I don't have experience with Platanthera ephemerantha, so here is my full reading of the Plantanthera key in Hitchcock.  Your photos are very good... but, this is a genus where you need to carefully measure flower parts, so need a ruler, or that penny you sometimes have in photos for scale.

Couplet

Leaves all on the lower 1/3 of the stem, often strictly basal, OR, leaves all cauline.

---Should have photo of entire plant to show entire stem.

---The leaves in photo all on lower 1/3 of stem, and my guess is that there are no more leaves higher on stem.

Couplet

Spur 0.7-1.3 mm, OR, spur 2-27 mm.

---This can be difficult to measure by looking at a photo with no ruler or scale bar.

---But 2 mm is just a little nub of a spur and these spurs are well developed, so I assume >2 mm

Then we come to this monster couplet:

a) sepals 3-several nerved, OR, b) sepals 1-nerved.  I can’t determine from photo. Sometimes if I can’t find the veins I guess at there only being 1, so slight possibility of b)

a) leaves 1-2, OR, b) leaves 2-5.  Well, in photo leaves are 2.  So not helpful.

a) leaves less than 5 times as long as broad, OR, b) leaves at least 5 times as long as broad.  It is awkward to measure leaves at an angle in photo, but I estimate leaves are about 6 times as long as broad, so b)

a) leaves basal, OR, b) leaves borne close together on lower 1/3 of stem but not all basal.  You know, the leaves attach above ground level (higher on stem than as seen in dandelion leaves) yet I usually think of cauline leaves as going higher on stem.  I can imagine different “experts” going either way and I don’t know Hitchcock’s criterium.  But since I see leaves on a stem, I lean towards b)

a) leaves not withering by anthesis (flowering), OR, b) leaves tending to wither by anthesis.  Clearly these leaves are not withered, but that “tending” to wither is ambiguous.  Note couplet b) takes you to P. ephemerantha which has leaves while in flower.

a) lip 5-20 mm, OR, b) lip 2-7 mm.  I estimate the lip (lowest petal) as around 5-7 mm, so this is not clear.

a) plants of mesic to wet areas, OR, b) plants mostly of dry areas.  Hmmm. Not a wet area, could be dry-ish.  I lean towards b)

Summary, I lean towards b)

Couplet

Spur 1.5-5.5 mm and less than or equal to lip, OR, spur 7-15 mm and much greater than lip.

---Spur is less than or equal to lip, which takes us to P. ephemerantha.  Can’t measure length better than to estimate it is within the range of 5 to 7 mm.

Platanthera ephemerantha

Sepals and petals bright white—yes.

Upper 2 petals +/- falcate (curved like a hawk’s beak), often converging—yes.

Lip becoming recurved towards spur by late anthesis (full flowering)—yes.

Inflorescence +/- loosely-flowered—well, yeah.

So this species is possible.

Platanthera elegans

Sepals and petals bright white—yes.

Upper 2 petals +/- straight and the tips generally diverging—no.

Inflorescence generally densely-flowered—no.

Not as good a fit.

 

I have never seen P. ephemerantha.  Congratulations!!!  Add another gold star after your name.

My reply:

Okay, I should have included some details which helped me key it out.

Leaves all on lower 1/3 of stem.

Spur roughly 7 mm.

Leaves at least 5 times as long as broad, closer to 6 as you surmised.

I'd have described the leaves as basal, having two plants in observation. I think the lower portion in the one photo had been disturbed and was therefore showing when it wouldn't have been otherwise.

Second specimen had leaves and was in full flower.

Lip equal to spur, i.e., 7 mm.

BONE-DRY area!

Aspidotis Densa

Day 286: There is a new name on the list of ferns known to occur in Mount Rainier National Park as of yesterday: Aspidotis densa. Known commonly as "Indian's Dream" or "Cliff Brake," the species had not been observed previously in the Park or in Pierce County, although it had been reported from Lewis County to the south and King County to the north. Only two specimens were observed at this site. However, we did not make a thorough search on this occasion. That will be forthcoming. The fern can be recognized by its blackish-brown stems and delicately lacy fronds. Fertile blades with thinner segments are held erect and exhibit more pinnae (divisions) than sterile foliage, a phenomenon called dimorphism or "having two forms." You would be correct in assuming that the plant was discovered by Team Biota during a recent outing, and it took several phone calls and numerous emails to confirm its identity. I am surprised that my jubilant "YES!!!" didn't register on the UW's seismometer.

Another Weird One For Crow - Tarzetta Cupularis

Day 249: The people who want me to file a "flight plan" just don't understand that I go where the woods sends me, not necessarily following an established trail or an animal track, but rather where some instinct directs. I cannot define the parameters for selecting a route; no occurrence of a specific moss, no slope of the land, no play or light and shadow compels me to go this way instead of that. Yet when I listen to the speech of the forest, it invariably guides me to something worth observation. Attempts to force the process result in pointless meandering, pleasurable in its own way, but more often than not, lacking the thrill of discovery which I so crave. Having already found specimens of one unusual fungus (tomorrow's feature), I was on my knees photographing some Nidula buttons, not yet open to reveal the "eggs" (peridioles) inside the cups which supply their common name of "Bird's-nest fungi" when a tiny spot of creamy white caught the tail of my eye. "Who's that weird little guy?" I said, words my botany partners recognize as a flag being run up the pole. I took several photos before remembering I'd put my measurin' stick in my bag (a good thing to have when botanizing), but further searching left me with only the one example. Elated, I hurried home to hit the field guides, certain that I would fail to find it in their pages which, naturally, proved to be the case. In the end, I called in expert help to get as far as Tarzetta ("Tazetta" in some references), and then narrowed it down by morphologic features to T. cupularis (Elf Cup or Grey Goblet), and a new species for the Park. Update: identification confirmed by a second, regionally knowledgeable mycologist. This photo is the first image of the species to be added to the Burke Herbarium's gallery. The only specimen of the species in the Burke collection was taken from Pack Forest.

DYD Of Distinction - Heterotheca Oregona

Day 291: If not for David Giblin, collections manager and research botanist at the UW's Burke Herbarium, this plant might not have been recorded as a new species for Mount Rainier National Park. David alerted me to his discovery, supplied an astonishingly accurate map without having had the benefit of a GPS, and sent me off on a merry chase to document its occurrence. He had only found one in the short time he had to spend at the location, so I left early Tuesday morning intending to scour the area for other examples. Over the next two and a half hours, I found at least fifty plants ranging in size and shape from a single stem 1" high to a mature specimen 20" tall and two feet wide. Heterotheca oregona (Oregon Golden Aster) has no ray flowers, despite what you might suppose from the photos. What appear to be ray flowers on this DYD ("Damn Yellow Daisy," a term popular with botanists) are in fact specialized disk flowers which elongate as the blossom reaches maturity. As part of my duties for the Natural Resources Division, I obtained two specimens for the Park's herbarium, one of which will be shared with the Burke after it is catalogued. And yes, for those of you following along, Arnie was thrilled when I shared the news with him.