James Bateman (1811-1897)
The Phantom Orchid
(Cephalanthera austiniae) L.C.Rich
There are tales of white ghost flowers that live in the forests. Some books tell us they only can be found in the states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho and California; another book allows that yes – they have been seen in the BC area of Chilliwack. Yet I have seen the little white ghosts in the woods here on Southern Vancouver Island.
 Cephalanthera austiniae |
Of course they are not ghosts; they are not even phantoms, as their name implies. Cephalanthera austiniae is a saprophytic orchid plant, which means it exists underground and only under very benign conditions will the plant manage to perform its flower magic, bringing forth the pure white flower stalk with up to twenty pure white flowers that have a little golden stripe on the narrow lip and smell of vanilla .
Saprophytes do not need chlorophyll to live; they form a symbiosis with another organism (usually fungus-like micorrhizae) and thereby can live very well without sunlight. The Coralroot orchid (Corallorhiza ssp) is another saprophyte that can be found locally. In fact, most orchids, even the tropical houseplants with their wonderful and brightly coloured flowers, must (in nature) start life in a symbiosis with some micorrhizae. Orchid seeds hold no food supply, only the embryo of the plant is there in its shell. If these seeds are going to live, they must find some fungi to help them to grow - in a symbiotic relationship, otherwise either the fungus kills the seed or the seedling kills the fungus. Clearly it is a vital lesson on “How to get along with your friends”.
 Cephalanthera austiniae |
Cephalantheras are mainly European and Asian (non-saprophytic) species and the Phantom Orchid is the only North American representative of this genus. We have found it growing in light shade on plant-debris-covered forest floor where the 15 - 25 cm white flower stems show up like candles in the dark. They made me think of blanched asparagus stalks, standing there with their narrow white flowers still in the bud stage. You will not see a single leaf on this plant. If you were to frivolously dig around in the ground, you would find the roots of trees, of ferns and mosses, of perhaps a few straggling plants, mycelia of fungi and maybe intertwined with all these, you might see some orchid roots. I don’t know if they would be tough or brittle, thin or thick, white or brown. I do know that it would certainly kill the plant if you even tried to dig around the flower stems. Our native orchids have evolved in their very specific habitats; it is not advisable to try and move any of them to a different place from where they grow naturally.
If you happen to discover some of these extremely rare orchids, be careful to remember the place well. When conditions are right, then you may be fortunate to see the pale glowing tapers of the Phantom Orchid standing on dark carpets of fir needles, exuding a gentle vanilla scent. They bloom for about a month, set and disperse seed and then go to rest again, like Sleeping Beauty, for many years. Like many terrestrial orchids that find conditions above ground not to their liking, the plants may stay underground, existing and living as the fungi do. You might be walking right over top of their sleeping places – you would not know that you are stepping on the beds of little fairies. It may take a long time before, on a happy day in May, when conditions are absolutely perfect for them, the little ghosts appear again, shining strangely in the twilight of the forest. Please, don’t stick markers in the ground or disfigure the surrounding trees and rocks; take pictures instead. Perhaps in another year, you will be thrilled once more to admire this treasured pale phantom from our BC forests.
Ingrid Schmidt-Ostrander - Canadian Orchid Congress