BY LESLIE REGO
It has been a few years since I have seen a white bog orchid, maybe because I have not been hiking in the right places or perhaps because it has been too dry. This year, with the many recent rainstorms, I have come across the orchids in moist meadows and near streams.
There are 25,000 to 30,000 species of orchids around the world and most grow in the tropics. But there are at least 450 that grow in colder climates, and the white bog orchid, Habenaria (Platanthera Habenaria dilatta), is one of them.
The orchid flower can be very tiny, like the white flower of the bog orchid, or can be extremely large, even weighing a couple of hundred of pounds. When I lived in Guatemala, we had many orchids growing around our patio. In fact, my mother-in-law cultivated orchids and even created a new hybrid that won first prize in the Guatemala orchid competition. She named the new orchid after our 2-year-old son. Brennan, who is now the publisher of The Weekly Sun!
So, I have always had a fondness for orchids and am excited when I come across them growing naturally in the national forest. Before crossing the logs to begin the hike to Mill Lake, there is a wet meadow alongside the stream. This boggy area is where I found the lovely white bog orchid. The tiny flowers, about 1/4-inch across, grow on racemes, densely populating the thick stems. The leaves are succulent, long and narrow, becoming smaller as they travel up the stem.
What always amazes me is that these miniature flowers have all of the attributes associated with a tropical orchid, even though they grow in a northern climate. A noticeable similarity is that the flower head is symmetrical bilaterally. It also has two sepals extending laterally, a lip and a hood, all characteristics that exist in the larger tropical flowers. Orchids generally have a symbiotic relationship with the plants that grow around them, as do our local orchids. They are fastidious about the conditions upon which they choose to grow and reproduce.
The local orchids are rare and precious and should never be picked.
Leslie Rego is an Idaho Press Club award-winning columnist, artist and Blaine County resident. To view more of Rego’s art, visit www.leslierego.com.