''Piperia'' is a former

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

within the orchid family

Orchidaceae Orchids are plants that belong to the family (biology), family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Orchids are cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan plants that ...

that has since been subsumed under ''

Platanthera The genus ''Platanthera'' belongs to the subfamily Orchidoideae of the family Orchidaceae, and comprises about 150 species of orchids. The members of this genus, known as the butterfly orchids or fringed orchids, were previously included in the ...

''. These plants are known as rein orchids. They are native to western North America, especially

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

and the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (PNW; ) is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...

. This former genus has the following characteristics: (a) a

bisexual Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior toward both males and females. It may also be defined as the attraction to more than one gender, to people of both the same and different gender, or the attraction t ...

perennial In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...

nongreen plant that grows from buried

tuber Tubers are a type of enlarged structure that plants use as storage organs for nutrients, derived from stems or roots. Tubers help plants perennate (survive winter or dry months), provide energy and nutrients, and are a means of asexual reproduc ...

s; fruit capsule bearing numerous minute seeds; (c)

pollen Pollen is a powdery substance produced by most types of flowers of seed plants for the purpose of sexual reproduction. It consists of pollen grains (highly reduced Gametophyte#Heterospory, microgametophytes), which produce male gametes (sperm ...

that is sticky, and which is removed as

sessile Sessility, or sessile, may refer to: * Sessility (motility), organisms which are not able to move about * Sessility (botany), flowers or leaves that grow directly from the stem or peduncle of a plant * Sessility (medicine), tumors and polyps that ...

anther The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filament ...

sacs; and (d) stigma fused with its

style Style, or styles may refer to: Film and television * ''Style'' (2001 film), a Hindi film starring Sharman Joshi, Riya Sen, Sahil Khan and Shilpi Mudgal * ''Style'' (2002 film), a Tamil drama film * ''Style'' (2004 film), a Burmese film * '' ...

into a column. There were a total of ten species in the genus ''Piperia'', which is named for American

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

Charles V. Piper. The genus members manifest generally cylindrical spikes or

raceme A raceme () or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate growth, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are ...

s. The subsurface architecture of these terrestrial wild orchids consists of a

rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome ( ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and Shoot (botany), shoots from its Node (botany), nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from ...

structure, from which emanate

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 The following terms are used to describe leaf plant morphology, morphology in the description and taxonomy (biology), taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (that is, the leaf blade or 'lamina' is undivided) or compound (that is, the leaf blade ...

in shape.Morgan & Ackerman, Lindleyana 5:205–211 (1990) 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. Below are the ten former species of ''Piperia'' and their currently accepted names: * ''Piperia candida'' - ''

Platanthera ephemerantha ''Platanthera ephemerantha'' is a species of orchid known by the common names whiteflower rein orchid, slender white piperia, and white-flowered piperia. It is native to western North America from Alaska to the San Francisco Bay Area, where it gr ...

'' * ''Piperia colemanii -

Platanthera colemanii ''Platanthera colemanii'' is a rare species of orchid known by the common names Coleman's piperia and Coleman's rein orchid. It is endemic to California, where it is known from scattered occurrences along the Sierra Nevada and one disjunct locat ...

'' * ''Piperia cooperi -

Platanthera cooperi ''Platanthera cooperi'' is an uncommon species of orchid known by the common names Cooper's rein orchid and chaparral rein orchid. Distribution The orchid is endemic to chaparral, coastal sage scrub, and oak woodland habitats. It is native to so ...

'' * ''Piperia elegans -

Platanthera elegans The genus ''Platanthera'' belongs to the subfamily Orchidoideae of the family Orchidaceae, and comprises about 150 species of orchids. The members of this genus, known as the butterfly orchids or fringed orchids, were previously included in the ...

'' * ''Piperia elongata -

Platanthera elongata ''Platanthera elongata'' is a species of orchid known by the common names denseflower rein orchid, chaparral orchid and wood rein-orchid. It is native to western North America from British Columbia and Montana to southern California, where it gro ...

'' * ''Piperia leptopetala -

Platanthera leptopetala ''Platanthera leptopetala'' is a species of orchid known by the common names narrow-petal rein orchid, and lacy rein orchid. It is native to the west coast of the United States from Washington to California, where it grows in scrub and woodland h ...

'' * ''Piperia michaelii -

Platanthera michaelii ''Platanthera michaelii'' is an uncommon species of orchid known by the common names Michael's rein orchid and Michael's piperia. It is endemic to California, where it is known from the coastal plains, hills, and mountains, and the Sierra Nevada ...

'' * ''Piperia transversa -

Platanthera transversa ''Platanthera transversa'' is a species of orchid known by the common names royal rein orchid and flat spurred piperia. It is native to western North America from British Columbia to California, where it can be found in forest, woodland, chaparr ...

'' * ''Piperia unalascensis -

Platanthera unalascensis ''Platanthera unalascensis'' is a species of orchid known by the common names slender-spire orchid, Alaska piperia and Alaska rein orchid. It is native to much of western North America from Alaska to the southwestern United States, as well as eas ...

'' * ''Piperia yadonii -

Platanthera yadonii ''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 spec ...

References

External links

Jepson Manual Treatment
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3308338 Historically recognized angiosperm genera Orchid genera