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orange fringe bog-orchid, yellow fringe orchid

purple-petal bog orchid

Habit Plants 24–100 cm. Plants 24–80 cm.
Leaves

2–4, spreading to ascending, gradually to somewhat abruptly reduced to bracts distally;

blade lanceolate to lance-elliptic, 5–40 × 0.6–6 cm.

few–several, abruptly diverging or sometimes ascending, scattered along stem;

blade oblong to ovate or lanceolate, 5.5–16(–28) × 1–4.5 cm.

Spikes

rather dense.

very lax to dense, flowers sometimes irregularly grouped in fascicles.

Flowers

resupinate, showy, orange;

dorsal sepal entire or rarely emarginate;

lateral sepals reflexed;

petals linear to linear-cuneate, margins apically fringed;

lip porrect to descending, oblong to broadly ovate-spatulate, without basal thickening, 8–19 × 4–18 mm, margins deeply filiform-fringed;

spur slenderly cylindric, rarely slightly clavate, 20–35 mm;

rostellum lobes scarcely to markedly curving forward, slightly spreading, angular-elongate;

pollinaria with stalks nearly straight to curved forward;

pollinia remaining enclosed in anther sacs;

viscidia orbiculate;

ovary slender, 12–27 mm.

resupinate, not showy, green to yellowish green, often suffused with blue or lip sometimes with red;

lateral sepals spreading to reflexed;

petals ovate- to lance-falcate, margins entire;

lip descending to somewhat reflexed or projecting, lanceolate to ovate, sometimes with prominent suborbiculate basal dilation, without basal thickening, 4–8 × 1.5–3 mm;

spur strongly clavate to scrotiform, 2–3 mm, apex obtuse;

rostellum lobes strongly diverging, very small, rounded, obscure;

pollinaria straight;

pollinia remaining enclosed in anther sacs;

viscidia orbiculate to oblong;

ovary rather slender to stout, mostly 5–9 mm.

2n

= 42 [63].

Platanthera ciliaris

Platanthera purpurascens

Phenology Flowering (Jun–)Jul–Sep. Flowering Jul–Aug.
Habitat Moist sandy and peaty meadows, marshes, prairies, pine savannas, open woods, wet wooded flats, seeping slopes, roadsides, dry wooded slopes, sphagnum bogs Stream banks, shores, ditches, fens, seeping slopes, roadsides, commonly in thickets, open woods
Elevation 0–1700 m (0–5600 ft) 2500–3300 m (8200–10800 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IL; IN; KY; LA; MA; MD; MI; MO; MS; NC; NJ; NY; OH; OK; PA; RI; SC; TN; TX; VA; WV; ON
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; CA; CO; NM; WY
[WildflowerSearch map]
Discussion

Selection for longer spurs in response to local pollination pressures on the southeastern Coastal Plain has been documented in Platanthera ciliaris, but the extent of variation is minimal, and the situation does not appear to be comparable to that in P. blephariglottis.

Hybrids of Platanthera ciliaris with P. blephariglottis are P. ×bicolor (Rafinesque) Luer and with P. cristata are P. ×channellii Folsom; until recently the latter was confused with P. chapmanii (J. P. Folsom 1984).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Flowers of Platanthera purpurascens are strongly semen scented, and their musty scent is markedly different than the sweet and spicy scents of other fragrant species.

In some areas this species hybridizes with Platanthera dilatata var. albiflora, producing sweetly fragant plants with lanceolate green lips. At the southern edge of its range, however, it often occurs with similar plants in the absence of another putative parent. The identity of these plants is uncertain. Their rather generalized morphology might mask polyphyletic origins.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 26, p. 568. FNA vol. 26, p. 560.
Parent taxa Orchidaceae > subfam. Orchidoideae > tribe Orchideae > subtribe Orchidinae > Platanthera Orchidaceae > subfam. Orchidoideae > tribe Orchideae > subtribe Orchidinae > Platanthera
Sibling taxa
P. aquilonis, P. blephariglottis, P. brevifolia, P. chapmanii, P. chorisiana, P. clavellata, P. convallariifolia, P. cristata, P. dilatata, P. flava, P. grandiflora, P. hookeri, P. huronensis, P. hyperborea, P. integra, P. integrilabia, P. lacera, P. leucophaea, P. limosa, P. macrophylla, P. nivea, P. obtusata, P. orbiculata, P. peramoena, P. praeclara, P. psycodes, P. purpurascens, P. sparsiflora, P. stricta, P. tipuloides, P. zothecina
P. aquilonis, P. blephariglottis, P. brevifolia, P. chapmanii, P. chorisiana, P. ciliaris, P. clavellata, P. convallariifolia, P. cristata, P. dilatata, P. flava, P. grandiflora, P. hookeri, P. huronensis, P. hyperborea, P. integra, P. integrilabia, P. lacera, P. leucophaea, P. limosa, P. macrophylla, P. nivea, P. obtusata, P. orbiculata, P. peramoena, P. praeclara, P. psycodes, P. sparsiflora, P. stricta, P. tipuloides, P. zothecina
Synonyms Orchis ciliaris, Habenaria ciliaris Limnorchis purpurascens, P. hyperborea var. purpurascens
Name authority (Linnaeus) Lindley: Gen. Sp. Orchid. Pl., 292. (1835) (Rydberg) Sheviak & W. F. Jennings: N. Amer. Native Orchid J. 3: 445. (1997)
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