''Platanthera colemanii'' is a rare species of

orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...

known by the common names Coleman's piperia and Coleman's rein orchid. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, where it is known from scattered occurrences along the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...

and one disjunct location in

Colusa County, California Colusa County () is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 21,839. The county seat is Colusa. It is in the North Valley of California, northwest of the state capital, Sacramento. History C ...

. It grows in

coniferous forests Conifers are a group of cone-bearing seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single extant class, Pinopsida. All exta ...

and

chaparral Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant community and geographical feature found primarily in the U.S. state of California, in southern Oregon, and in the northern portion of the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico. It is shaped by a Mediterranean c ...

in deep sandy substrates. It was differentiated from the very similar '' Platanthera unalascensis'' in 1993.Coleman, R. A. (2002)
The Wild Orchids of California.
Comstock Publishing Associates, Cornell University Press, Ithaca. It grows erect to about half a meter in maximum height. The basal leaves are narrow and almost grasslike, measuring up to 16 centimeters long and no more than 2 wide. Leaves higher on the stem are much reduced. The upper part of the stem is a spikelike

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

of up to 100 small flowers. The unscented translucent green flowers have curved

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined b ...

s and sickle-shaped, curving petals a few millimeters in length. The flower can be distinguished from that of ''P. unalascensis'' by its shorter spur relative to its lip. There are about 19 known occurrences, several of which are within

Yosemite National Park Yosemite National Park ( ) is an American national park in California, surrounded on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The park is managed by the National Park Service and covers an ar ...

. Other occurrences are in unprotected forested lands and may be vulnerable to disturbance from

logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks or skeleton cars. Logging is the beginning of a supply chain ...

operations.

References

External links

Calflora Database: ''Piperia colemanii'' (Coleman's piperia)

Jepson Manual eFlora (TJM2) treatment of ''Piperia colemanii''

USDA Plants Profile for ''Piperia colemanii'' (Coleman's piperia)

Flora of North America

The Nature Conservancy: ''Piperia colemanii''

UC Photos gallery — ''Piperia colemanii''
colemanii Orchids of California Endemic flora of California Endemic orchids of the United States Flora of the Cascade Range Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Plants described in 1993 {{Orchidoideae-stub