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yellow ladies'-tresses, yellow nodding ladies'-tresses, yellow nodding lady's tresses

creamy ladies' tresses, creamy lady's tresses, western ladies'-tresses

Habit Plants 10–55 cm. Plants 15–60 cm.
Roots

few, horizontally spreading, slender, mostly to 0.4 cm diam.

few–several, spreading to descending, tuberous, mostly to 1 cm diam.

Leaves

persisting through anthesis, basal, sometimes on basal portion of stem, spreading, linear-oblanceolate to narrowly elliptic, to 21 × 2 cm.

persisting through anthesis or fugaceous, basal, often on proximal portion of stem, ascending, linear to linear-lanceolate, linear-oblanceolate, oblanceolate or elliptic, to 34 × 3.5 cm.

Spikes

rather loosely to very tightly spiraled, 3–4 flowers per cycle of spiral, occasionally 5 or more in very loose spiral;

rachis moderately pubescent, some trichomes capitate, glands obviously stalked.

usually very tightly spiraled, rarely loosely spiraled, usually 3 flowers per cycle of spiral;

rachis glabrous to sparsely pubescent, trichomes less (usually much less) than 0.18 mm, capitate glands often sessile.

Flowers

ochroleucous, ivory, creamy, yellowish, or greenish white, ascending, urceolate to somewhat gaping, claw of lip at pronounced (20–60°) angle to lamina, base cuneate, appearing strongly inflated;

sepals distinct to base, 6–14 mm;

lateral sepals appressed to petals and lip, straight, separated from dorsal sepal by mostly 0.7–1 mm;

petals linear to linear-oblong, 6–13 mm, apex acute to obtuse;

lip often more yellow centrally, oblong to ovate, 7–12 × 4–7 mm, margins crenulate, glabrous;

veins several, branches parallel;

basal calli incurved, prominent, very rarely conic, 1–2 mm;

viscidia linear;

ovary 3–7 mm.

ascending, creamy to markedly yellowish, slenderly tubular;

sepals connate at base, 4.6–11 mm, apex reflexed-spreading;

petals linear-lanceolate to linear-oblanceolate, apex reflexed-spreading, obtuse to subacute or subemarginate;

lip lance-ovate to lanceolate, 4–9.5 × 1.9–4.3 mm, apex recurved less than to scarcely more than apices of sepals and petals, only slightly or not at all dilated, with subapical dense cushion of peg-shaped trichomes on adaxial surface;

veins few to several, branches wide-spreading or often parallel;

viscidia linear to linear-elliptic;

ovary mostly 2–7.5 mm.

Seeds

monoembryonic.

monoembryonic.

2n

= 30.

= 44 [66].

Spiranthes ochroleuca

Spiranthes porrifolia

Phenology Flowering Aug–Nov. Flowering May–Aug.
Habitat Dry to mesic open woodland, thickets, meadows, barrens, ledges, outcrops, banks and roadsides, old fields Moist to wet riparian meadows, stream banks, marshes, fens, seeping banks
Elevation 0–1700 m (0–5600 ft) 100–2600 m (300–8500 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CT; IN; KY; MA; MD; ME; MI; NC; NH; NJ; NY; OH; PA; RI; SC; TN; VA; VT; WV; NB; NS; ON; PE
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; ID; NV; OR; WA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

While leaves of Spiranthes ochroleuca are usually present at anthesis, in prairie populations they are commonly absent.

Spiranthes ×steigeri was described as a hybrid of S. cernua and S. romanzoffiana, but additional study (P. M. Catling 1984) has shown the plants to be referable to S. ochroleuca.

See notes on gene flow and apomixis under 14. Spiranthes cernua.

Hybrids of Spiranthes ochroleuca with S. casei are known as S. ×borealis P. M. Brown.

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

Source FNA vol. 26, p. 539. FNA vol. 26.
Parent taxa Orchidaceae > subfam. Orchidoideae > tribe Cranichideae > subtribe Spiranthinae > Spiranthes Orchidaceae > subfam. Orchidoideae > tribe Cranichideae > subtribe Spiranthinae > Spiranthes
Sibling taxa
S. brevilabris, S. casei, S. cernua, S. delitescens, S. diluvialis, S. eatonii, S. floridana, S. infernalis, S. lacera, S. laciniata, S. longilabris, S. lucida, S. magnicamporum, S. odorata, S. ovalis, S. parksii, S. porrifolia, S. praecox, S. romanzoffiana, S. torta, S. tuberosa, S. vernalis
S. brevilabris, S. casei, S. cernua, S. delitescens, S. diluvialis, S. eatonii, S. floridana, S. infernalis, S. lacera, S. laciniata, S. longilabris, S. lucida, S. magnicamporum, S. ochroleuca, S. odorata, S. ovalis, S. parksii, S. praecox, S. romanzoffiana, S. torta, S. tuberosa, S. vernalis
Synonyms Gyrostachys ochroleuca, S. cernua var. ochroleuca, S. ×steigeri S. romanzoffiana var. porrifolia
Name authority (Rydberg) Rydberg: Fl. Plains N. Amer., 241. (1932) Lindley: Gen. Sp. Orchid. Pl., 467. (1840)
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