Oregon Wildflowers

[mccallen]

I just took a road trip down the Oregon Coast and there were tons of beautiful wildflowers.

Epipactis gigantea

Lilium columbianum

Some kind of Iris? Maybe douglassiana?

Goodyera oblongifolia

Darlingtonia californica pitcher and flower

Sequoia sempervirens.

This is the biggest tree I've ever seen; for scale, I'm 6'3''. It's supposed to be 1800 years old and have a circumference of 55 feet.

I looked really hard for Cypripedium californicum, which I've always always wanted to see but couldn't find any I was driving a non gravel road friendly car, so I had to do a lot of boring walking...with no reward in the end. I tried the area east of Gold Beach, Oregon in the mountains, the Hunter Creek area. If anyone has pictures I'd really love to see them. Better yet, if you know where any are I'd love to know in a PM in case I ever drive through during blooming season again.

 

[JeanLux]

WoW!!! good pics!!! Thanks for posting!! Great epipactis: what size was that flower?

And the Sequoia :drool: That is one Tree :drool:

Jean

 

[goldenrose]

:clap: I sure do like that epipactis!
I'd love to visit a sequoia!
Thanks for sharing your fantastic pics!

 

[fbrem]

wow, those are some awesome images, thanks for sharing.

 

[mccallen]

Great epipactis: what size was that flower?
Jean

Each flower was about 2 cm x 2 cm or so.
I'd say the average plant height was around 20-25 cm.

They were growing out of the little pockets where soil had accumulated in a big rock in the middle of a river. I fell in the water wading out to them.

 

[likespaphs]

groovy.
thanks!
i dig on those Epipactis. are they invasive out there too or is that one native? (actually, i dunno where the species/genus is native anyways....)

 

[mccallen]

i dig on those Epipactis. are they invasive out there too or is that one native? (actually, i dunno where the species/genus is native anyways....)

I think that Epipactis gigantea is native to the Western US. I know we also have Epipactis helleborine, which is definitely not native and comes from Europe. The first time I ever saw that one it was growing through the asphalt on the edge of a grocery store parking lot!

 

[mccallen]

Aquilegia formosa, I think.

 

[SlipperFan]

Thanks for sharing, mccallen -- that epipactus and sequoia are both awesome!

 

[KyushuCalanthe]

Very nice photos, thanks! I love the lily too. Epipactis gigantea is native to the western US, and the genus is distributed throughout the northern hemisphere from western North American to Europe. Ross Kouzes has photographed many western wildflowers and posted shots on various forums. Here are some shots he took of Cyp. californicum in Oregon some years ago. He used to have a blog, but I can't seem to locate it today.

 

[mccallen]

Oh Man! Those are beeeeeeeautiful!
I know a few years back Spangle Creek Labs was offering seedlings; someday I'd like to try my hand.

 

[NYEric]

THanx for sharing everyone.

 

[Hien]

What a beautiful place to see, and the tree is amazing.
Thanks for showing the photos,to see your photos is almost as being there in person.

 

[biothanasis]

Great photos!!! I love the Epip and the sequoia! 1800 years?? And who are we to cut such trees!!? grrrrrrr

 

[KyushuCalanthe]

Oh Man! Those are beeeeeeeautiful!
I know a few years back Spangle Creek Labs was offering seedlings; someday I'd like to try my hand.

I think these will become more available in the trade over the next decade as seedlings come into maturity. They are quite slow to flower from seed (so far) and even though they clump fast, plant size remains small for a long time. One good thing, they have been successfully over-winter in zone 5 (Ron Burch), so perhaps are bit hardier than one would expect. At least it is easier to grow than the other two western Cyps - C. montanum (very difficult) and C. fasciculatum (almost impossible).

 

[mccallen]

Well, that seems like good news, I guess I'll just be patient!

 

[montanum]

Hi All,
Just joined the forum and found this thread Mccallen, your Epipactis pics are great! Love the color. I've never been down there at the right time... I always see their buds and then their ripe capsules, but never flowers :-( Someday I'll take a special trip to see them, Lilium bolanderi, Calochortus greenii and Calochortus howellii which all bloom around July 1.

Here's the address for my blog (it's even updated!): http://cypripedieae.blogspot.com/

Most of the Cyp cal photos are in May each year, if that's what you wanted to see.

Best,
Ross

 

[Heather]

Welcome Ross!!

 

[SlipperFan]

Welcome, Ross. Interesting blog and photos.

 

[mccallen]

Yahoo! Thanks a lot Ross!