Spiranthes porrifolia
Spiranthes parksii
creamy ladies' tresses, creamy lady's tresses, western ladies'-tresses
Navasota lady's tresses
few–several, spreading to descending, tuberous, mostly to 1 cm diam.
few, spreading to descending, slender to somewhat tuberously thickened, mostly to 0.8 cm diam.
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.
fugaceous, basal, ascending to spreading, linear-lanceolate to somewhat broader.
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.
loosely spiraled, usually 5 flowers per cycle of spiral;
rachis moderately to densely pubescent, some trichomes capitate, glands obviously stalked.
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.
horizontal to ascending, white to pale yellowish green, scarcely gaping, urceolate-tubular;
sepals distinct to base, 5–8 mm;
lateral sepals directed nearly forward, apex straight or apical 1–2 mm curved upward;
petals whitish to yellow-green with longitudinal central green stripe, ovate, obovate, or suborbiculate, 4.5–6.7 mm, apex obtuse to emarginate-erose;
lip centrally yellow to yellowish or greenish white, ovate to ovate-oblong, 5–7 × 3.8–4.9 mm, apex truncate, obtuse to deeply emarginate, erose-crisped, glabrous;
veins several, branches parallel;
basal calli incurved to elongate, prominent;
viscidia linear-lanceolate;
ovary 4–6 mm.
monoembryonic.
partly or wholly polyembryonic.
= 44 [66].
= 60.
Spiranthes porrifolia
Spiranthes parksii
Of conservation concern.
The tetraploid chromosome number and apomictic development of polyembryonic seeds indicate that Spiranthes parksii is a member of the S. cernua complex. The broad petals with central green stripe, several veins (instead of the three typical of the group), and erose-emarginate apical margin furthermore evidently represent partial peloria. Peloria is common in S. cernua, especially in the prairies, although in most cases it involves the suppression of the lip rather than the elaboration of the petals to a condition approximating the lip, as is the case in S. parksii. With a very limited distribution in east-central Texas, S. parksii might therefore represent merely a local, minor form of S. cernua. Other characteristics, however, including the small flower size and often upturned lateral sepal apices, lie outside the normal range of variation in S. cernua and suggest that the plants represent a distinct species.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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