Creamy Ladies'-tresses, Creamy Lady's Tress, Western Ladies'-tresses, Western Ladies' Tresses: Spiranthes porrifolia (Synonym: Spiranthes romanzoffiana var. porrifolia)

Western ladies' tresses is a perennial orchid to 24 inches in height. It consists of a single, stout, upright stem. The leaves are usually basal, and consist of several linear to narrowly oblong (8 to 20 cm long leaves. The spike of flowers is dense, with numerous closely appressed flowers.

The flowers are cream or greenish-white, aligned in one to four somewhat spiraling, vertical rows. The lip of the flower is nearly triangular, and not constricted .

Western ladie's tresses generally appear from early to late June in the Gorge as the annual grasses go brown and the native grasses are in mid-bloom.

Western ladies' tresses are found in meadows and along riverbanks at low to middle elevations. It generally found along vernal stream courses that have dried up, and is found just above the high water mark and often only within a few feet of the side of the stream.

Western ladies' tresses are found from Klickitat County Washington west to Marion County, Oregon, and southward to California, and east to Utah.

In the Columbia River Gorge, it may be found from east of Bingen, WA to about Stacker Butte. It may be found between the elevations of 100'-1800' within that range.

The lower half of the lower lip of western ladies' tresses remains about the same width as the rest of the lip. It is not prominently widened as that of the hooded ladies' tresses (Spiranthes romanzoffiana). Photographed in the Columbia River Gorge.......June 26, 2009.

Three additional close-up views of the inflorescence of western ladies' tresses as seen in the Columbia River Gorge........June 26, 2009. Click each photo to see an enlarged view (3X). Note that the flowers are spirally arranged along the axis of the scape and bloom upwards along the scape.

Western ladie's tresses as seen in the Columbia River Gorge........June 30, 2009.

Basal leaves of western ladies' tresses as seen at left from the Columbia River Gorge in western Klickitat County, WA..........May 2, 2014. The photo at right shows western ladies' tresses at the same location as at left........April 19, 2017.

Western ladies' tresses blooming at the Klickitat Wildlife Area north of Klickitat, WA......July 2, 2023.

Additional close-up photos of the flowers and inflorescence of western ladies' tresses as seen in the Klickitat River drainage........July 21, 2011. Note the typical habitat of this orchid which generally is located in a narrow line that parallels the winter high water mark of the stream, swale or pool.