Spiranthes porrifolia |
Spiranthes vernalis |
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creamy ladies' tresses, creamy lady's tresses, western ladies'-tresses |
spring ladies'-tresses, spring lady's tresses |
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Habit | Plants 15–60 cm. | Plants 20–65 cm. |
Roots | few–several, spreading to descending, tuberous, mostly to 1 cm diam. |
numerous, spreading, mostly to 1 cm diam., stout. |
Leaves | 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. |
persisting through anthesis, to 4–5, basal, reduced to sheathing bracts upward on stem, spreading, linear-lanceolate, keeled, 5–25 × 1 cm. |
Inflorescences | spikes loosely to tightly spiraled, 3–7 or more flowers per cycle of spiral, sometimes nearly secund; rachis densely pubescent, trichomes articulate, pointed, capitate glands absent. |
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Spikes | 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. |
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Flowers | 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. |
nodding to somewhat ascending, white to cream, mostly gaping; sepals distinct to base, lanceolate, 6–10 × 2–3 mm; lateral sepals spreading; petals oblong, 6–9 × 2 mm, apex obtuse; lip creamy yellow centrally or some individuals with 2 brown-orange spots, ovate, 5–8 × 4 mm; veins of lip straight, branches parallel; basal calli conic, to 1 mm; viscidium linear-lanceolate; ovary mostly 8 mm. |
Seeds | monoembryonic. |
monoembryonic. |
2n | = 44 [66]. |
= 30. |
Spiranthes porrifolia |
Spiranthes vernalis |
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Phenology | Flowering May–Aug. | Flowering Jan (Fla)–Oct (north). |
Habitat | Moist to wet riparian meadows, stream banks, marshes, fens, seeping banks | Dry to moist meadows, dune hollows, prairies, old fields, roadsides, cemeteries, lawns |
Elevation | 100–2600 m (300–8500 ft) | 0–1000 m (0–3300 ft) |
Distribution |
CA; ID; NV; OR; WA
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AL; AR; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; MO; MS; NE; NH; NJ; NY; OH; OK; PA; RI; SC; TN; TX; VA; WV
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Discussion | The habit of Spiranthes vernalis is variable: inflorescences range from secund to loosely and even densely coiled, and flower shapes vary as well. The most consistent diagnostic character is the presence in inflorescences of copious articulate, pointed trichomes that readily distinguish S. vernalis from similar species. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Source | FNA vol. 26. | FNA vol. 26, p. 534. |
Parent taxa | Orchidaceae > subfam. Orchidoideae > tribe Cranichideae > subtribe Spiranthinae > Spiranthes | Orchidaceae > subfam. Orchidoideae > tribe Cranichideae > subtribe Spiranthinae > Spiranthes |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | S. romanzoffiana var. porrifolia | Ibidium vernale |
Name authority | Lindley: Gen. Sp. Orchid. Pl., 467. (1840) | Engelmann & A. Gray: Boston J. Nat. Hist. 5: 236. (1845) |
Web links |