Spiranthes ochroleuca

Yellow Nodding Ladies’-tresses

[ click on any image below to see larger version ]

Family: Orchidaceae (Orchid family)

Mid-Atlantic bloom time: September - October

According to Zachary R. Bradford's article in Sempervirens, The Quarterly of the Virginia Native Plant Society, September 2022¹, Yellow Nodding Ladies’-tresses' unique combination of characteristics are:

• off-white flowers with butterscotch coloration at base of lip
• lower lip or labellum has wavy margins that often but not always have a yellow area
• growing in dry and usually acidic habitats in the mountains and rarely piedmont
• silimar to S. cernua - look for yellow in labellum

For a comparison of Ladies'-tresses based on Bradford's articles on this flora site, see Spiranthes (Ladies'-tresses) Orchids ID help.

4 October 2023 Maple Flats area, Sherando, VA

4 October 2023 Maple Flats area, Sherando, VA (note yellow-tinge at base of flower lip)

4 October 2023 Maple Flats area, Sherando, VA

4 October 2023 Maple Flats area, Sherando, VA

References

1:   Zachary R. Bradford. "Discovering late blooming ladies’-tresses", Sempervirens, The Quarterly of the Virginia Native Plant Society. September 2022 (PDF)

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