Data provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria

View additional distribution information on the Jepson eflora

Piperia 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 Piperia, notably the endangered species P. yadonii are quite similar in appearance to some populations of this species.

Plant type

Perennial herb

Size

3 ft Tall

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Color

Yellow, White, Green

Sun

Full Sun, Partial Shade

Plant communities

Chaparral, Closed-cone Pine Forest, Foothill Woodland, Northern Coastal Scrub, Red Fir Forest, Yellow Pine Forest