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{{Short description|Species of orchid}}
{{taxobox
{{Speciesbox
| image = Piperia yadonii.jpg
| image = Platanthera yadonii 146515368.jpg
⚫
| status = G2 | status_system = TNC
| regnum = [[Plantae]]
| status = {{TNCStatus}}
⚫
| status_system = TNC
| unranked_divisio = [[Angiosperms]]
| status_ref = <ref name="TNC status 14 may 2022">{{cite web | url=https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.131476 | title=NatureServe Explorer 2.0 }}</ref>
| unranked_classis = [[Monocots]]
| genus = Platanthera
| ordo = [[Asparagales]]
⚫
| species = yadonii
| familia = [[Orchidaceae]]
| authority = (Rand.Morgan & Ackerman) R.M.Bateman
| subfamilia = [[Orchidoideae]]
| genus = ''[[Piperia]]''
| synonyms = ''Piperia yadonii'' <small>Rand.Morgan & Ackerman</small>
⚫
}}
⚫
| species = '''''P. yadonii'''''
| binomial = ''Piperia yadonii''
| binomial_authority = R. Morgan & Ackerman
⚫
|}}
⚫
'''''Piperia yadonii''''', also known as '''Yadon's Piperia''' or '''Yadon's rein orchid''', is an endangered [[orchid]] [[endemism|endemic]] to a narrow range of [[coast]]al [[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 [[Human overpopulation|expanding human population]] and associated habitat loss.<ref>[[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)</ref> 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.


⚫
'''''Platanthera yadonii''''', also known as '''Yadon's piperia''' or '''Yadon's rein orchid''', is an endangered [[orchid]] [[endemism|endemic]] to a narrow range of [[coast]]al [[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 [[Population growth|expanding human population]] and associated habitat loss.<ref>[[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)</ref> 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.
⚫
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 [[fungus|fungal]] [[organism]]s.

⚫
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 [[fungus|fungal]] [[organism]]s.


==Description==
==Description==
Along with most other orchids ''P. yadonii'': (a) is a [[bisexual]] [[Perennial plant|perennial]] green plant that grows from buried [[tuber]]s; manifests a fruit capsule bearing numerous minute seeds; (b) exhibits [[pollen]] that is sticky, and which is removed as [[Sessility (botany)|sessile]] [[anther]] [[wikt:sac|sacs]]; and (c) has a stigma fused with its [[Style (botany)|style]] into a column.
Along with most other orchids ''P. yadonii'': (a) is a [[bisexual]] [[Perennial plant|perennial]] green plant that grows from buried [[tuber]]s; manifests a fruit capsule bearing numerous minute seeds; (b) exhibits [[pollen]] that is sticky, and which is removed as [[Sessility (botany)|sessile]] [[anther]] [[wikt:sac|sacs]]; and (c) has a stigma fused with its [[Style (botany)|style]] into a column.


There are a total of eight species in the genus ''Piperia'', which is named for American [[botanist]] [[Charles V. Piper]]. The genus members manifest generally cylindrical spikes or [[raceme]]s. As with other ''Piperia'', Yadon's Piperia exhibits a single veined flower one to two millimeters in width and a [[anatomical terms of location|basal]] [[rosette (botany)|rosette]] leaf formation.
Yadon's piperia exhibits a [[anatomical terms of location|basal]] [[rosette (botany)|rosette]] leaf formation.


The subsurface architecture of this terrestrial wild orchid consists of a [[rhizome]] structure, from which emanate [[tuber]]s. 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.<ref name="Morgan">Morgan & Ackerman, Lindleyana 5:205–211 (1990)</ref> Each leaf ranges from 10&nbsp;to 15&nbsp;centimeters in length and 20&nbsp;to35&nbsp;millimeters in width. Leaves of younger plants are often more diminutive in size.
The subsurface architecture of this terrestrial wild orchid consists of a [[rhizome]] structure, from which emanate [[tuber]]s. 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.<ref name="Morgan">Morgan & Ackerman, Lindleyana 5:205–211 (1990)</ref> Each leaf ranges from 10&nbsp;to 15&nbsp;centimeters in length and 20&nbsp;to 35&nbsp;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&nbsp;to 55&nbsp;centimeters in height.<ref>''The Jepson manual: higher plants of California'', Hickman, JC, ed., University of California Press, Berkeley, Ca. (1993)</ref> Each flower has a spur of length 1.5&nbsp;to 5&nbsp;millimeters, short compared to other members of the genus. Yadon’s Piperia typically presents three upper [[tepal]]s, 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.
The dense [[inflorescence]] is borne on a single erect vertical spike varying from 12&nbsp;to 55&nbsp;centimeters in height.<ref>''The Jepson manual: higher plants of California'', Hickman, JC, ed., University of California Press, Berkeley, Ca. (1993)</ref> Each flower has a spur of length 1.5&nbsp;to 5&nbsp;millimeters, short compared to other members of the genus. Yadon's Piperia typically presents three upper [[tepal]]s, 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 (botany)|spur]], which typically measures 1.5&nbsp;to 6.0&nbsp;millimeters in length. ''P. yadonii''<nowiki>'</nowiki>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.
Another key identification feature is the characteristically abbreviated [[spur (botany)|spur]], which typically measures 1.5&nbsp;to 6.0&nbsp;millimeters in length. ''P. yadonii''<nowiki>'</nowiki>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==
==Reproduction and symbiosis==

Seeds of this species, like other orchids, lack an endosperm.<ref>T.C. Wells, ''Population ecology of terrestrial [[orchid]]s: The biological aspects of rare plant conservation'', H. Synge, John Wiley & Sons. Ltd: 281–295 (1981)</ref> The extremely small seeds must come in contact with appropriate soil [[fungus|fungi]] in order to [[germination|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.
Seeds of this species, like other orchids, lack an endosperm.<ref>T.C. Wells, ''Population ecology of terrestrial [[orchid]]s: The biological aspects of rare plant conservation'', H. Synge, John Wiley & Sons. Ltd: 281–295 (1981)</ref> The extremely small seeds must come in contact with appropriate soil [[fungus|fungi]] in order to [[germination|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==
==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 (disambiguation)|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]].
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Del monte forest.jpg|thumb|260px|Del Monte Forest, [[Monterey Peninsula]], showing encroachment of [[golf course]] development toward habitat of ''Piperia yadonii''.|{{deletable image-caption|1=Wednesday, 5 September 2007}}]] -->
⚫
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 (disambiguation)|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)
<!-- Unsourced image removed: [[File:Ypipria occur map us govt.gif|thumb|140px|left|Blue squares show known colonies of Yadon's piperia]] -->
⚫
[[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 [[Alice Eastwood|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 (ocean)|marine]] climate that is pronounced due to the [[upwelling]] of cool water from the [[Monterey Canyon|Monterey submarine canyon]]. Rainfall is 40&nbsp;to 50&nbsp;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 (meteorology)|precipitation]].
⚫
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 [[Alice Eastwood|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 (ocean)|marine]] climate that is pronounced due to the [[upwelling]] of cool water from the [[Monterey Canyon|Monterey submarine canyon]]. Rainfall is 40&nbsp;to 50&nbsp;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 (meteorology)|precipitation]].


==History and conservation==
==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 [[endemic (ecology)|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-[[conifer cone|cone]] [[pine]]s and [[Cupressus|cypress]]es are [[Relict (biology)|relict]] stands, e.g. species that once extended more widely in the [[Mesic habitat|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&nbsp;and 2000&nbsp;BC.<ref>C.I. Millar, ''Reconsidering the Conservation of Monterey Pine''. Fremontia 26(3):12–16 (1998)</ref>


⚫
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 [[Endangered Species Recovery Plan|Recovery Plan]],<ref>''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</ref> the latter promulgated by the [[United States Fish and Wildlife Service|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.
⚫
''Piperia 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 [[endemic (ecology)|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-[[conifer cone|cone]] [[pine]]s and [[Cupressus|cypress]]es are [[relict]] stands, e.g. species that once extended more widely in the [[Mesic habitat|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&nbsp;and 2000&nbsp;BC.<ref>C.I. Millar, ''Reconsidering the Conservation of Monterey Pine''. Fremontia 26(3):12–16 (1998)</ref>


⚫
The listing as a federally endangered species occurred in 1998, prompted<ref>U.S. [[Federal Register]]: August 2, 1995 (Volume 60, Number 148, Pages 39326–39337)</ref> by a study conducted by Earth Metrics for the [[Monterey, California|city of Monterey]], which found the colony in the Del Monte forest to be threatened by proposed land development.<ref>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)</ref> Subsequently, in 1995 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service acted on this new information regarding Yadon's piperia, and promulgated a [[public notice|notice of intent]] to classify the species as endangered.
⚫
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 [[Endangered Species Recovery Plan|Recovery Plan]],<ref>''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</ref> the latter promulgated by the [[United States Fish and Wildlife Service|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.


⚫
Monitoring [[population]]s 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 [[Plant senescence|senesced]]; thus, a survey conducted during the flowering season will miss plants that have leafed out but not flowered.
⚫
The listing as a federally endangered species occurred in 1998, prompted<ref>U.S. [[Federal Register]]: August 2, 1995 (Volume 60, Number 148, Pages 39326–39337)</ref> by a study conducted by Earth Metrics for the [[Monterey, California|city of Monterey]], which found the colony in the Del Monte forest to be threatened by proposed land development.<ref>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)</ref> Subsequently in 1995 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service acted on this new information regarding Yadon’s piperia, and promulgated a [[public notice|notice of intent]] to classify the species as endangered.

⚫
Monitoring [[population]]s 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 [[Plant senescence|senesced]]; thus, a survey conducted during the flowering season will miss plants that have leafed out but not flowered.


==See also==
==See also==
*''[[Platanthera elegans]]''
*[[Hickman's potentilla]]
*[[Hickman's potentilla]]
*[[Minimum viable population]]
*[[Minimum viable population]]


== References==
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Reflist}}


== External links ==
==External links==
*{{Commons-inline|Piperia yadonii|''Piperia yadonii''}}
{{Commons category|Platanthera yadonii|Platanthera yadonii|position=left}}
*{{Wikispecies-inline|Piperia yadonii|''Piperia yadonii''}}
*{{Wikispecies-inline|Platanthera yadonii|Platanthera yadonii (Piperia yadonii)}}
*[http://www.calflora.org/cgi-bin/species_query.cgi?where-taxon=Piperia+yadonii Calflora: ''Piperia yadonii'' (Yadon's piperia, Yadon's rein orchid)]
*[http://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=PIYA USDA Plants Profile for ''Piperia yadonii'' (Yadon's piperia)]
*[http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_IJM.pl?tid=38361 Jepson eFlora: ''Piperia yadonii'']
*[http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/EPA-SPECIES/1997/April/Day-02/e7448-1.htm U.S.EPA endangered species listing detail for ''P. yadonii'']
*[http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/EPA-SPECIES/1997/April/Day-02/e7448-1.htm U.S.EPA endangered species listing detail for ''P. yadonii'']
*[http://ecos.fws.gov/species_profile/servlet/gov.doi.species_profile.servlets.SpeciesProfile?spcode=Q3FA U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service species profile for ''P. yadonii'']
*[http://ecos.fws.gov/species_profile/servlet/gov.doi.species_profile.servlets.SpeciesProfile?spcode=Q3FA U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service species profile for ''P. yadonii'']
*[http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/img_query?where-taxon=Piperia+yadonii&where-anno=1 ''Piperia yadonii'' — UC Photos gallery]

{{Taxonbar|from=Q28816713}}


[[Category:Orchideae species]]
⚫
[[Category:Endemic orchids of the United States]]
⚫
[[Category:Orchids of California]]
[[Category:Endemic flora of California]]
[[Category:Endemic flora of California]]
⚫
[[Category:Orchids of California]]
⚫
[[Category:Endemic orchids of the United States]]
[[Category:Natural history of Monterey County, California]]
[[Category:Natural history of Monterey County, California]]
[[Category:Endangered flora of California]]
[[Category:Platanthera|yadonii]]
[[Category:Orchids of the United States]]

Latest revision as of 22:52, 20 April 2023

Platanthera yadonii

Critically Imperiled  (NatureServe)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
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 yadonii Rand.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.[2] 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.

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

[edit]

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.[3] 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.[4] 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

[edit]

Seeds of this species, like other orchids, lack an endosperm.[5] 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

[edit]

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

[edit]

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.[6]

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,[7] 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[8] 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.[9] 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

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References

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  1. ^ "NatureServe Explorer 2.0".
  2. ^ 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)
  3. ^ Morgan & Ackerman, Lindleyana 5:205–211 (1990)
  4. ^ The Jepson manual: higher plants of California, Hickman, JC, ed., University of California Press, Berkeley, Ca. (1993)
  5. ^ T.C. Wells, Population ecology of terrestrial orchids: The biological aspects of rare plant conservation, H. Synge, John Wiley & Sons. Ltd: 281–295 (1981)
  6. ^ C.I. Millar, Reconsidering the Conservation of Monterey Pine. Fremontia 26(3):12–16 (1998)
  7. ^ 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
  8. ^ U.S. Federal Register: August 2, 1995 (Volume 60, Number 148, Pages 39326–39337)
  9. ^ 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)
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