Single Record

Participant Info

Species
Epipactis gigantea
Family
Orchidaceae
CommonName
stream orchid, broadleaf helleborine
Presence
yes
Status
native
EarliestDate
2021
LatestDate
2021
Ecosystem
montane
Geobotanical
NCristos
Counties
Saguache
Passes
WildlifePreserves
Other Localities
Comments
From the Watershed there is only one record of stream orchid: Valley View Hot Springs (Scott F. Smith coll, east slope of the north Cristos, Saguache Co, 4 July 2021). The location is not a surprise, given this orchid's predilection for stream sides of hot springs run-off. Epipactis gigantea has also been recorded in a similar environment just 23 miles to the northwest, at Poncha Springs, also on the western slopes of the north Sangre de Cristos and associated with a hot springs—the Old Poncha Hot Springs, whose water still has some run-off despite the piping of the main springs to Salida (photorecords, Rich Haswell, 30 June 2016 and 27 June 2017). BONAP shows this species as adventitious throughout the Rockies, running down the Rio Grande drainage through New Mexico to Webb Co, Texas. Its native terrain is the West coast, southern Utah, and Arizona.