Piperia cooperi

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

Piperia cooperi
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Plantae
(unranked):
Angiosperms
(unranked):
Monocots
Order:
Asparagales
Family:
Orchidaceae
Subfamily:
Orchidoideae
Genus:
Piperia
Species:
P. cooperi
Binomial name
Piperia cooperi

Distribution

The orchid is endemic to chaparral, coastal sage scrub, and oak woodland habitats. It is native to southern California and the border area in Baja California.

It is found in the Santa Monica Mountains, Simi Hills, and San Gabriel Mountains of the Transverse Ranges; Santa Catalina Island and San Clemente Island of the Channel Islands, and the Santa Ana Mountains and Cuyamaca Mountains of the Peninsular Ranges.[1]

Description

Piperia cooperi grows erect to about 90 centimetres (35 in) in maximum height from a bulbous caudex. The basal leaves are up to 20 centimeters long by 3 cm wide. Leaves higher on the stem are much reduced.

The upper part of the stem is a spikelike inflorescence of many small green flowers, which are honey-scented in the evenings. Its bloom period is from March to June.

Conservation

This orchid is a listed vulnerable species on the California Native Plant Society Inventory of Rare and Endangered Plants.[2]

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gollark: I imagine it would be possible to teach you it eventually, but I'm not really good at "patience" or "explaining over large inferential distances".
gollark: Yes, well.
gollark: And just randomly tries different things until I say that they look less wrong.
gollark: Oh, and he is apparently entirely incapable of generalization or remembering things from more than 15 seconds ago.

See also
  • Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands

References
  1. Calflora Distribution map of Piperia cooperi
  2. California Native Plant Society Inventory of Rare and Endangered Plants (online edition, v8-02) . accessed 23 January 2016.
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