Spiranthes ovalis

Oval Ladies'-tresses, October Ladies'-tresses

[ click on any image below to see larger version ]

Family: Orchidaceae (Orchid family)

Mid-Atlantic bloom time: August - November

According to Zachary R. Bradford's article in Sempervirens, The Quarterly of the Virginia Native Plant Society, September 2022¹, Oval (October) Ladies'-tresses flowers self-pollinate, and therefore do not fully open and are much smaller than other species in the nodding ladies'-tresses complex. Its unique combination of characteristics are:

flowers relatively small (6mm long at most)
growing in moist to mesic forested habitats

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

23 September 2021
Prince William Forest Park, Triangle, 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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