# Canadian Alpine Journal/Volume 1/Number 2/The Orchidaceae of the Rocky and Selkirk Mountains

BOTANICAL NOTES.
THE ORCHIDACEAE OF THE ROCKY AND SELKIRK MOUNTAINS.
By Julia W. Henshaw.
Orchid-hunting has an irresistible attraction for every lover of Nature. Whether the secret of this fascination lies in the difficulties which beset the search for the rarer species, or whether it is the strange forms, sweet perfumes and tropical appearances of many of the flowers belonging to this eccentric family that inspire so vivid a delight in the breast of man it is hard to determine, but assuredly the traveller does experience a keen thrill of ecstacy on finding one of these uncanny plants closely hidden in some shady swamp, or deep-set amid the tall rank herbage of the hills.
So far I have found twenty-three different species of orchidaceæ in the Rocky and Selkirk Mountains. They are as follows:
| Calypso borealis | Calypso. |
| Corallorhiza innata | Early Coral-root. |
| Corallorhiza multiflora | Large Coral-root. |
| Corallorhiza striata | Alpine Coral-root. |
| Listera cordata | Heart-leaved Tway Blade. |
| Listera convallarioides | Broad-lipped Tway Blade. |
| Listera borealis | Northern Tway Blade. |
| Spiranthes Romanzoffiana | Ladies' Tresses. |
| Goodyera Menziesii | Rattlesnake Plantain. |
| Goodyera repens | Small Rattlesnake Plantain. |
| Habenaria bracteata | Long-bracted Orchis. |
J. W. Henshaw. Photo
CALYPSO (CALYPSO BOREALIS)
Habenaria hyperborea Leafy Orchis.
Habenaria orbiculata Round-leaved Orchis.
Habenaria striata Green Orchis.
Habenaria dilatata White Bog Orchis.
Habenaria leucostachys Giant Orchis.
Orchis rotundifolia Fly-spotted Orchis.
Cypripedium passerinum White Lady's Slipper.
Cypripedium montanum Mountain Lady's Slipper.
Cypripedium acaule Pink Lady's Slipper.
Cypripedium pubescens Large Yellow Lady's Slipper
Cypripedium parviflorum Small Yellow Lady's Slipper
Some of the orchids are quite common in the Rocky Mountains, such, for instance, as the lovely Calypso (Calypso borealis) whose large rose-pink sacs, striped with a deeper hue and variegated by yellow spots, form clumps of exquisite color in the deep green forests.
A very interesting and leatless plant is the Early Coral-root (Corallorhiza innata) found in quantities in the vicinity of Banff, where numbers of its queer, purplish-green flowers spring on succulent stems from the coralloid roots. Other species found in the Selkirk Mountains are: Large Coral-root (Corallorhiza multiflora) and Alpine Coral-root (Corallorhiza stricta) the latter being a very rare plant.
The healthy green Tway Blades (Listera cordata, Listera convallarioides, and Listera borealis) together with the Rattlesnake Plantains (Goodyera menziesii and Goodyera repens) the two latter having peculiar white-veined leaves, are all found in the mountain regions, but are comparatively unattractive plants.
Ladies' Tresses (Spiranthes Romanzofiana) is a lovely member of the Orchid family found blooming towards the close of the summer in marshy localities, where its dense snowy flower-spikes exhale a fragrant perfume.
​The Habenarias are very numerous in the mountains. Some of them, such as the White Bog Orchis (Habenaria dilatata) and Giant Orchis (Habenaria leucostachys) have exquisite large spikes of white sweet-scented flowers and are a perfect prize to the Nature-lover; while others, such as the Long-bracted Orchis (Habenaria bractcata), Small Orchis (Habenaria obtusata), Leafy Orchis (Habenaria hyperborea), Round-leaved Orchis (Habenaria orbiculata) and Green Orchis (Habenaria stricta) are small plants and have greenish, yellowish or purplish blossoms that are almost scentless. These lesser orchids grow in the woods and beside the trails, and are easily recognized, as each species possesses its own marked individual peculiarities.
On wet, sandy flats and by the margin of the alpine streams grow the pale pink clusters of the Fly-spotted Orchis (Orchis rotundifolia), its dainty blossoms splashed with rose color and a single rounded green leaf growing at the base of the plant.
J. W. Henshaw. Photo
EARLY CORAL-ROOT (CORALLORHIZA INNATA)
​The two white Lady's Slippers (Cypripdeium passerinum and Cypripedium montanum) are less gorgeous than the yellow species, but are more rare and charmingly dainty in appearance. Their shell-like velvety sacs, spotted inside with carmine, are very lovely.
But the Pink Lady's Slipper (Cypripedium acaule), the most rare and the most bewitching of all the orchids—how shall I describe its exotic beauty! A flower carven in coral of rose, it springs like a living flame from the soft green of its setting, exhaling a perfume sweet as the breath of Araby. Lance-shaped purplish sepals spread out on either side to protect the single drooping blossom, and two large leaves spring up from the base to sentinel its majesty, while the great glowing sac is folded together to defy the attacks of depredating bees. The Pink Lady's Slipper is so extremely rare in the Rocky Mountains that I regard my discovery of it in the year 1903 as the crowning triumph of my botanical work in that region.
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