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Platanthera lacera - (image 1 of 4)

Taxonomy

Family: Orchidaceae

Habitat

Wet fields and pastures, springy areas, openings in swamps.

Associates

Distribution

Newfoundland to southeast Manitoba, south to SC, GA, AL, AR, and northeast OK.

Morphology

Herbaceous perennial 30-80 cm; lower leaves lanceolate to oval, to 15 cm long and 4 cm wide, acute or blunt at the apex; upper leaves much reduced, nearly linear; inflorescence usually compact and many-flowered (more open and few-flowered in shade), 5-15(-20) cm long and 3-5 cm thick; flowers pale yellow-green to greenish-white; sepals broadly oval, 4.5-7 mm, the laterals deflexed behind the lip; lateral petals linear-spatulate, about equaling the sepals, blunt, entire; lip 11-16 mm, deeply 3-lobed, each lobe cuneate, fringed with a few long segments at the end only, the terminal lobe long-clawed, the lateral lobes cut to below the middle or nearly to the base; spur 14-21 mm, about equaling the ovary.

Notes

Flowers June to August

Wetland indicator: FACW

One of the more common fringed orchids. It seems to do best in moist habitats where the surrounding vegetation has been stunted by mowing, grazing, or changes in hydrology. Hybrids with P. grandiflora are P. x keenanii and hybrids with P. psycodes are P. x andrewsii.

References

Gleason, Henry A. and A. Cronquist. 1991. Manual of Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada. Second Ed.

The New York Botanical Garden. Bronx, NY

Sheviak, C.J. 2002. Platanthera, In: Flora of North America Editorial Committee, Eds. Flora of North America North of Mexico. Volume 26. Oxford University Press, New York.

USDA, NRCS. 2002. The PLANTS Database, Version 3.5 (http://plants.usda.gov).
National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.

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