Orchid Sirens

During his frequent hikes on nearby hills, longtime orchid grower Ed Nazzal is drawn to native Bay Area orchids like a chocoholic eyeing candy inside a chocolate shop. 

It's unlikely either of them will ever say, "Enough!" 

Out of approximately 30,000 orchid species worldwide, nearly three dozen are native to California and about a dozen are on record as growing in the Bay Area.

"I've only seen about five native species here," laments Nazzal, who has grown thousands of tropical orchids during the past 27 years. "The rest may be either extinct or rare, but I keep looking to see what's out there." 

Nazzal gets to look for them a lot since he goes on hikes at least once a week, always with his camera and usually on trails near Skyline Boulevard/Route 35, a hub for native orchids. He says within a 20-minute drive from downtown Los Gatos, hikers can find different native orchids during individual plants' blooming seasons in state and county parks or open spaces. 

"A friend of mine is into native orchids, and I mentioned that I was up north and saw some pictures that claimed 'Calypso' orchids grew up there," recalls Nazzal about a conversation he had seven years ago. 

"Oh, they grow down here, too, in Butano," his friend informed the astonished Nazzal. 

Nazzal's fascination with local native orchids was born. 

Locally, the eye-catching Calypso bulbosa native orchid grows in Butano State Park in the Santa Cruz Mountains amidst trees and vegetation. Calypsos, also called "Fairy Slippers," have 2-inch flowers, purple petals and sepals, and a patterned lip. It's illegal to take orchids from a park, and Nazzal says if someone happens to dig up a Calypso, it won't survive. The plant needs a certain mycorrhizal fungus to thrive, found only in the native soil in which it grows. 

"Every year I go to Butano around March, which is the earliest Calypso orchids come out there," says Nazzal, who is on the board of the Santa Clara Valley Orchid Society. "The only problem is it blooms very early in the season, so it's usually very muddy, and it's a mess. This year we went to hike there, about 10 miles, and we saw them in four varied colors." 

Another local example of native orchids is one found throughout California along streams. Epipactis gigantia, also known as the Stream Orchid, thrives from sea level to 7,000 feet in the Sequoias. 

Nazzal grows Stream Orchids in pots, using gravel that he keeps wet. He creates clones by placing pod seeds from his existing plants into special flasks. It takes at least three years for his babies to grow to seedling size. 

"You might hear that you kill orchids mostly by overwatering," Nazzal says. "But you cannot possibly overwater Epipactis gigantia. I gave some of the seedlings to a friend of mine in Willow Glen, who has a pond with running water," Nazzal says. "He put them in the water in a plastic basket filled with gravel, and they are thriving." 

Shaun Dickey, the manager at the Native Revival Nursery in Aptos, one of few places that sell Epipactis gigantia, says it needs a good movement of water if placed in the ground. 

"It won't grow in heavy clay," Dickey says. "If the soil is really wet, it will be more open and loose and will allow more air flow. They can take over a good section of ground and die back to nothing, but new growth will appear in the same spot for the next season." 

Before you grab a camera and head out to see if you, too, can discover orchids in the wild, Nazzal offers important advice, in addition to staying only on trails. 

"Be careful, be very careful what you touch," Nazzal says. "Fortunately, I'm not allergic to poison oak [since] poison oak is often near where orchids are. And there are lots of rattlesnakes in the hills—keep your eyes open." 

About this column: Each week, Susan Wiedmann will write about nature or outdoor activities enjoyed by local residents.  Susan is a longtime freelance writer and photographer with a passion for capturing wildlife through her camera's lens. Please leave any comments about this article at the bottom of this page. You can contact Susan about possible topics at Susan@UpCloseWithMotherNature.com or at UpCloseWithMotherNature.com.