Platanthera yadonii

Last updated

Platanthera yadonii
Platanthera yadonii 146515368.jpg
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Orchidaceae
Subfamily: Orchidoideae
Genus: Platanthera
Species:
P. yadonii
Binomial name
Platanthera yadonii
(Rand.Morgan & Ackerman) R.M.Bateman
Synonyms

Piperia yadoniiRand.Morgan & Ackerman

Platanthera yadonii, also known as Yadon's piperia or Yadon's rein orchid, is an endangered orchid endemic to a narrow range of coastal habitat in northern Monterey County, California. In 1998 this plant was designated as an endangered species by the United States government, the major threat to its survival being continuing land development from an expanding human population and associated habitat loss. [1] One of the habitats of Yadon's piperia, the Del Monte Forest near Monterey, California, is the subject of a federal lawsuit, based upon endangerment of this organism along with several other endangered species.

Contents

This wildflower may lie dormant in a given year and not emerge above the soil surface from its tuberous substructure. After leafing out in the spring, it will produce flowers on erect spikes, each flower possessing both green and white petals. It prefers sandy soils, and subsists on nutrient extraction from intermediate fungal organisms.

Description

Along with most other orchids P. yadonii: (a) is a bisexual perennial green plant that grows from buried tubers; manifests a fruit capsule bearing numerous minute seeds; (b) exhibits pollen that is sticky, and which is removed as sessile anther sacs; and (c) has a stigma fused with its style into a column.

Yadon's piperia exhibits a basal rosette leaf formation.

The subsurface architecture of this terrestrial wild orchid consists of a rhizome structure, from which emanate tubers. The rhizome extracts nutrients from fungal intermediates and may also store some of these nutrients. A basal rosette of leaves develops from the tuber at the surface of the soil, each of the two or three leaves being lanceolate in shape. [2] Each leaf ranges from 10 to 15 centimeters in length and 20 to 35 millimeters in width. Leaves of younger plants are often more diminutive in size.

The dense inflorescence is borne on a single erect vertical spike varying from 12 to 55 centimeters in height. [3] Each flower has a spur of length 1.5 to 5 millimeters, short compared to other members of the genus. Yadon's Piperia typically presents three upper tepals, each of which contains both green and white pigmentation; moreover, there are three lower tepals that are white only. The earliest blooming time is June. When P. yadonii blooms, as late as August, all of its sepals and petals may be purely white.

Another key identification feature is the characteristically abbreviated spur, which typically measures 1.5 to 6.0 millimeters in length. P. yadonii's leaves usually wither by blooming time, except for a small percentage of very large individuals. The geographic range of P. yadonii overlaps that of P. elegans, P. elongata, P. michaelii, and P. transversa; consequently, P. yadonii is clearly distinguished from them only in the flowering stage. Sympatric occurrences in mixed populations with P. elongata and P. elegans are noted in the literature.

Reproduction and symbiosis

Seeds of this species, like other orchids, lack an endosperm. [4] The extremely small seeds must come in contact with appropriate soil fungi in order to germinate. The resulting seedlings obtain fixed carbon from the fungus until they produce their first leaves and begin to photosynthesize. This strategy is known as myco-heterotrophy. Vegetative reproduction may also occur.

Distribution and habitat

Yadon's piperia is confined to a handful of locations in the coastal area of north Monterey County primarily the Del Monte Forest on the Monterey Peninsula. Tiny populations have been found in the Prunedale Hills; and an isolated southernmost population on Rocky Creek Ridge (Cushing Mountain) at Big Sur. Specific places of occurrence within those areas are the S.F.B. Morse Botanical Reserve; Manzanita County Park; and the Nature Conservancy’s Blohm Ranch Nature Preserve. Each colony is rather small in patch size, measured on the order of twenty acres or less. All of the occurrences are below about 250 meters above mean sea level and all are within six miles of the Pacific Ocean.

Yadon's piperia is generally restricted to three habitats: (a) Monterey pine (Pinus radiata) forest, sometimes with Gowen's cypress ( Cupressus goveniana ssp. goveniana) which includes more than 80 percent of the known populations; (b) California Northern coastal scrub, with dwarfed Hooker's manzanita ( Arctostaphylos hookeri ssp. hookeri) or Eastwood's manzanita ( Arctostaphylos glandulosa ); and (c) Monterey cypress ( Cupressus macrocarpa ) forest. The colonies in woodland settings are found under partial canopy in an open, primarily herbaceous understory shape.

The Monterey Peninsula and northern Big Sur areas are influenced by a marine climate that is pronounced due to the upwelling of cool water from the Monterey submarine canyon. Rainfall is 40 to 50 centimeters per year, but summer fog drip is a primary source of moisture for Yadon's Piperia and other plants that would otherwise not be able to persist with such low precipitation.

History and conservation

Platanthera yadonii was named for Vern Yadon, former longtime director of the Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History. The Monterey Peninsula, where all colonies of Yadon's piperia occur, is recognized to have a high degree of species endemicism. Species with more northern ranges often reach their southern limits on the Peninsula; species with more southern affinities reach their northern limits there as well. On the Monterey Peninsula some taxa comprising habitat for P. yadonii, such as the coastal closed-cone pines and cypresses are relict stands, e.g. species that once extended more widely in the mesic climate of the late Pleistocene period, but then retreated to small pockets of cooler and wetter conditions along the coast ranges during the hotter, drier early Holocene period between 6000 and 2000 BC. [5]

Yadon's piperia, along with certain other threatened species in the northern California Floristic Province, has been designated as a species meriting protection by the U.S. Government, State of California, local governments and private conservation groups. These designations have led to blueprints for protection of Yadon's piperia in the form of official endangerment classifications and a species Recovery Plan, [6] the latter promulgated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Even with all these efforts, the total current population is not necessarily above the minimum viable population without further elements of protection.

The listing as a federally endangered species occurred in 1998, prompted [7] by a study conducted by Earth Metrics for the city of Monterey, which found the colony in the Del Monte forest to be threatened by proposed land development. [8] Subsequently, in 1995 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service acted on this new information regarding Yadon's piperia, and promulgated a notice of intent to classify the species as endangered.

Monitoring populations of Yadon's piperia is challenging since each tuber does not produce emergent leaves or flowers in a given year. To complicate matters further, the plant can only be identified conclusively in its flowering stage, and yet, even when the plant leafs out, it may not necessarily produce a flower in a given year. Furthermore, by the time a flower is produced, the leaves have typically senesced; thus, a survey conducted during the flowering season will miss plants that have leafed out but not flowered.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Del Monte Forest, California</span> Census-designated place in California, United States

Del Monte Forest is a census-designated place (CDP) in Monterey County, California. As of the 2020 census, the CDP had a total population of 4,204, down from 4,514 at the 2010 census. The census area includes the separate well-known community of Pebble Beach.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern California coastal forests</span> Temperate coniferous forests ecoregion in northern California and southwestern Oregon

The Northern California coastal forests are a temperate coniferous forests ecoregion of coastal Northern California and southwestern Oregon.

<i>Cupressus goveniana</i> Species of conifer

Cupressus goveniana, now reclassified as Hesperocyparis goveniana, with the common names Californian cypress and Gowen cypress, is a species of cypress, that is endemic to California.

<i>Platanthera praeclara</i> Species of orchid

Platanthera praeclara, known as the western prairie fringed orchid and the Great Plains white fringed orchid, is a rare and threatened species of orchid native to North America.

<i>Cupressus abramsiana</i> Species of conifer

The Santa Cruz cypress is a species of North American tree within the Cypress family. The species is endemic to the Santa Cruz Mountains within the Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties of west-central California. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed the species on the Endangered Species Act in 1987 due to increasing threats from habitat loss and disruption of natural forest fire regimes. In 2016, the conservation status of the Santa Cruz cypress changed to Threatened. The cited reasoning was a decrease in threats against their habitat.

<i>Potentilla hickmanii</i> Species of flowering plant

Potentilla hickmanii is an endangered perennial herb of the rose family. This rare plant species is found in a narrowly restricted range in two locations in coastal northern California, in Monterey County, and in very small colonies in San Mateo County. This small wildflower, endemic to western slopes of the outer coastal range along the Pacific Ocean coast, produces bright yellow blossoms through spring and summer.

<i>Piperia</i> Former genus of orchids

Piperia is a former genus within the orchid family Orchidaceae that has since been subsumed under Platanthera.

<i>Platanthera elegans</i> Species of plant

Platanthera elegans is a species of orchid known by several common names, including elegant piperia, coast piperia, hillside rein orchid, and hillside bogorchid. This is a showy flowering plant native to western North America. It grows from a caudex tuber and sends up a thick stem just under a meter in maximum height. The stem is topped with a cylindrical spike inflorescence of densely packed flowers with curving white to greenish-yellow petals. Coastal individuals are noticeably thicker and have more flowers than those that grow further inland; it is uncertain if these are variants, subspecies, or even separate species. They are both currently treated as P. elegans. Other species of Plantanthera, notably the endangered species P. yadonii are quite similar in appearance to some populations of this species.

<i>Arctostaphylos tomentosa</i> Species of flowering plant

Arctostaphylos tomentosa is a species of manzanita known by the common name woollyleaf manzanita or woolley manzanita. This shrub is endemic to California.

<i>Arctostaphylos pallida</i> Species of flowering plant

Arctostaphylos pallida, commonly known as pallid manzanita, Oakland Hills manzanita, and Alameda manzanita, is an upright manzanita shrub from the Ericaceae, or heath family. It is endemic to the eastern San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California.

<i>Arctostaphylos obispoensis</i> Species of tree

Arctostaphylos obispoensis is a species of manzanita, known by the common names bishop manzanita and serpentine manzanita, endemic to California.

<i>Arctostaphylos rainbowensis</i> Species of tree

Arctostaphylos rainbowensis is a species of manzanita known by the common name Rainbow manzanita. It is endemic to California, where it is known only from northern San Diego and southern Riverside Counties in the Peninsular Ranges.

<i>Trifolium trichocalyx</i> Species of plant

Trifolium trichocalyx is a species of clover known by the common name Monterey clover.

The Bonny Doon Ecological Reserve is a nature preserve of 552 acres (2.23 km2) in the Santa Cruz Mountains of California, United States. The reserve protects several rare and endangered plant and animal species within an area known as the Santa Cruz Sandhills, an ancient seabed containing fossilized marine animals.

<i>Platanthera ephemerantha</i> Species of plant

Platanthera ephemerantha is a species of orchid known by the common names whiteflower rein orchid, slender white piperia, and white-flowered piperia. It is native to western North America from Alaska to the San Francisco Bay Area, where it grows in coniferous forests and other habitat in coastal and inland mountain ranges within 150 kilometers of the coast. It grows erect to about half a meter in maximum height from a bulbous caudex. The basal leaves are up to 18 centimeters long by 3 wide. Leaves higher on the stem are much reduced. The upper part of the stem is a spikelike inflorescence of up to 100 small flowers, mostly arranged along one side of the stem. The fragrant, honey-scented flowers are whiter than those of other Platanthera, but sometimes green-tinged or -veined, or green with white margins. The status of this species in the wild is difficult to determine because most populations are small and may produce flowers only rarely.

<i>Platanthera colemanii</i> Species of plant

Platanthera colemanii is a rare species of orchid known by the common names Coleman's piperia and Coleman's rein orchid. It is endemic to California, where it is known from scattered occurrences along the Sierra Nevada and one disjunct location in Colusa County, California. It grows in coniferous forests and chaparral in deep sandy substrates. It was differentiated from the very similar Platanthera unalascensis in 1993.

<i>Platanthera cooperi</i> Species of plant

Platanthera cooperi is an uncommon species of orchid known by the common names Cooper's rein orchid and chaparral rein orchid.

<i>Platanthera michaelii</i> Species of orchid

Platanthera michaelii is an uncommon species of orchid known by the common names Michael's rein orchid and Michael's piperia. It is endemic to California, where it is known from the coastal plains, hills, and mountains, and the Sierra Nevada foothills. It can be found in varied habitat, including scrub, woodland, and forest. This orchid grows erect to about 70 centimeters in maximum height from a bulbous caudex. The basal leaves are up to 24 centimeters long by 5 wide. Leaves higher on the stem are much reduced. The upper part of the stem is a spikelike inflorescence of many yellow-green flowers which are fragrant in the evenings.

<i>Platanthera transversa</i> Species of plant

Platanthera transversa is a species of orchid known by the common names royal rein orchid and flat spurred piperia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monterey Peninsula</span> Peninsula in California, USA

The Monterey Peninsula anchors the northern portion on the Central Coast of California and comprises the cities of Monterey, Carmel, and Pacific Grove, and the resort and community of Pebble Beach.

References

  1. ↑ United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Endangered and threatened wildlife and plants: Final rule listing five plants from Monterey County, California as endangered or threatened. Federal Register 63: 43100–43116 (1998)
  2. ↑ Morgan & Ackerman, Lindleyana 5:205–211 (1990)
  3. ↑ The Jepson manual: higher plants of California, Hickman, JC, ed., University of California Press, Berkeley, Ca. (1993)
  4. ↑ T.C. Wells, Population ecology of terrestrial orchids: The biological aspects of rare plant conservation, H. Synge, John Wiley & Sons. Ltd: 281–295 (1981)
  5. ↑ C.I. Millar, Reconsidering the Conservation of Monterey Pine. Fremontia 26(3):12–16 (1998)
  6. ↑ Notice of Availability of a Draft Recovery Plan for Five Plants From Monterey County, CA, Federal Register: May 13, 2002, Volume 67, Number 92, Pages 32003–32004
  7. ↑ U.S. Federal Register: August 2, 1995 (Volume 60, Number 148, Pages 39326–39337)
  8. ↑ C.M. Hogan, G. Deghi, M. Papineau et al., Environmental Impact Report for the Pebble Beach Properties project by Del Monte Forest, Earth Metrics Inc. Prepared for the city of Monterey and State of California Clearinghouse (1992)
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.