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purple fringeless orchid

bog candles, bog-candle, boreal bog-orchid, fragrant white bog orchid, fragrant white rein orchid, rein orchid, scent-bottle, white bog orchid, white northern bog-orchid, white orchid, white rein-orchid

Habit Plants 35–105 cm. Plants 11–130 cm or more.
Leaves

2–5, spreading to ascending, scattered along stem, gradually reduced to bracts distally;

blade lanceolate, elliptic, oblong-elliptic, or oblance-oblong, 7–27 × 1.2–5 cm.

few–several, ascending to recurved-spreading, scattered along stem, gradually reduced to bracts distally;

blade linear, linear-lanceolate, oblong, or oblanceolate, 3.5–32 × 0.3–7 cm.

Spikes

lax to dense.

very lax to very dense.

Flowers

resupinate, showy, rose-purple;

lateral sepals somewhat reflexed;

petals oblong-linear to spatulate, distally crenate to entire;

lip descending to somewhat porrect, deeply 3-lobed, without basal thickening, 11–20 × 12–23 mm, distal margins of lobes dentate-lacerate, rarely nearly entire, lateral lobes narrowly cuneate, middle lobe broadly cuneate-flabellate, emarginate to 2-fid;

spur clavate, 20–30 mm;

rostellum lobes directed forward, spreading, angular;

pollinaria straight to geniculate;

pollinia directed forward;

viscidia orbiculate;

ovary slender, 13–23 mm.

resupinate, rather showy, conspicuous, white;

lateral sepals spreading to reflexed;

petals ovate- to linear-lance-falcate, margins entire;

lip descending or apex adhering to dorsal sepal and petal apices, linear-lanceolate to lanceolate, without basal thickening, 4–11 × 2–5 mm, base slightly rounded-dilated to orbiculate, rarely rhombic, margins entire;

rostellum lobes parallel to slightly divergent, directed downward, very small, obscure, rounded;

pollinaria straight;

pollinia remaining enclosed in anther sacs;

ovary rather slender to stout, 5–15 mm.

2n

= 42.

Platanthera peramoena

Platanthera dilatata

Phenology Flowering (Jun–)Jul–Aug(–Oct).
Habitat Alluvial forests, wet wooded flats, stream banks, seeping slopes, marshes, moist prairies, old fields and pastures, ditches, thickets
Elevation 0–800 m (0–2600 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; DE; GA; IL; IN; KY; MD; MO; MS; NC; NJ; OH; PA; SC; TN; VA; WV
[WildflowerSearch map]
from USDA
North America
[WildflowerSearch map]
Discussion

Varieties 3 (3 in the flora).

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

Key
1. Spur shorter than lip, clavate to slightly capitate.
var. albiflora
1. Spur nearly equaling to exceeding lip, slender to slightly clavate.
→ 2
2. Spur about equal to lip (mostly within 2 mm).
var. dilatata
2. Spur markedly exceeding lip (commonly 11/2 or more times length of lip).
var. leucostachys
Source FNA vol. 26, p. 565. FNA vol. 26, p. 556.
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. 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. 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. 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
Subordinate taxa
P. dilatata var. albiflora, P. dilatata var. dilatata, P. dilatata var. leucostachys
Synonyms Habenaria peramoena Orchis dilatata, Habenaria dilatata, Limnorchis dilatata
Name authority (A. Gray) A. Gray: Manual, 473. (1848) (Pursh) Lindley ex L. C. Beck: Bot. North. Middle States, 347. (1833)
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