The Orchids of Galiano Island, BC

Last updated May 2022

To date our community has documented 12 orchids (Family: Orchidaceae) for Galiano Island, confirming 100% of the historical records and adding 4 new species to the list. We have also documented a rare variety of coralroot orchid (Corallorhiza maculata var. ozettensis), which, outside of the southern Gulf Islands and southeast Vancouver Island, is only known from the northwest coast of the Olympic Peninsula. 

There are 39 species of orchid known to the Pacific Northwest (Legler 2018); 37 species known to British Columbia (E-Flora 2019); and 15 species known to the southern Gulf Islands (Janszen 2002). Our local orchid diversity thus represents less than a third of the broader regional and provincial diversity, and about 73% of the diversity reported for the southern Gulf Islands.

Below you can explore a data visualization of the orchids reported for Galiano. Click the links to view local Galiano island-based observations of the species documented so far.

  • Reported Orchid Diversity: Galiano Island vs the Pacific Northwest [12:39 spp.] 31% 31%
  • Reported Orchid Diversity: Galiano Island vs British Columbia [12:37 spp.] 32% 32%
  • Reported Orchid Diversity: Galiano Island vs. the southern Gulf Islands [12:15 spp] 80% 80%

Local Observations